The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has released a proposed new freight data standard for Australia. The Single Freight Data Standard is designed to provide the framework for the interoperable sharing of information about the movement of freight and vehicles as they travel around in the supply chain.
According to the ALC, this kind of standard goes some way towards answering a need highlighted in the first annual report for the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy. This had called for better freight location and performance data as part of progress towards the establishment of the National Freight Data Hub and the need for industry to share data in a consistent manner.
ALC said it has liaised with industry and Government partners including GS1 and Transport Certification Australia to develop a Data Standard capturing information in a uniform way that can be applied to a wide range of purposes including:
- assisting in the collection of statistics for government purposes;
- providing a uniform data format that can be used for those wishing to enhance the visibility of freight in which they have an interest;
- presenting information to road managers in a way that would facilitate decisions relating to access to routes by heavy vehicles;
- assisting compliance with legislation; and
- facilitating planning by both industry and governments
“The Australian Government acknowledges the need for a single data standard to enable governments and industry to make data driven decisions,” said Michael McCormack, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, at a meeting held this week.
According to Kirk Coningham, ALC CEO, ‘Data is the “new oil’ for the supply chain industry.‘Governments should prioritise uses of data with the greatest potential to improve productivity in the transport sector in ways that can inform the provision and management of infrastructure, inform decisions around planning and technology, and assist in the development and implementation of other future legislation, with the information forming part of the proposed federal Freight Data Hub,’ said the Productivity Commission in its recent report on national transport regulatory reform
The proposed standard can be found here.
