The Port of Baltimore’s SERM is responsible for all environmental and emergency management programs related to the Port’s activities. Vision Planning & Consulting is working closely with the SERM Office to deliver a comprehensive look at neighborhood, city, national, and global trends that will shape the Port’s future over the next 30 years. The goals of this study are to: determine the Port’s viability in the next 30-50 years; identify potential roadblocks that could hinder the Port’s growth; identify inter-dependencies between the Port and its surrounding neighborhoods; and considerations to eventually increase cargo throughout.

The study examined the City’s growth sectors, target industries, market size, trends, and programs and initiatives related to transportation, economic development, workforce development, green infrastructure, and zoning. Goals and recommendations for more than eight surrounding neighborhood master plans were also reviewed, in light of the Port’s role as a catalyst to the surrounding communities.

“65 percent of today’s grade school kids in the U.S. will end up at jobs that haven’t even been invented yet.”

-World Economic Forum, 2014

Three other port cities (Boston, Oakland, Philadelphia), were examined for comparison. Six key economic indicators and their competitive advantages were reviewed for their impact on the Port with respect to direct, indirect, induced, and related jobs. VPC examined how the labor markets would alter and new job titles that would emerge in the next few decades.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the “Internet of Things” will reshape future production and logistics systems and will change the way companies work. In light of this, the “Smart” Port of the Future was examined, to get an understanding of new frontiers in other international ports and trends and changes among the major global carriers.

As many as “375 million jobs may be automated by 2030”

-CNN Tech, 2017

Other areas of research included an increase in freight demand, the Hyperloop, and how sea level change would reshape coastlines and water depths globally. Additionally, global trends to 2030 and their impacts on the port industry, and specifically the Port of Baltimore, were summarized and presented to the Maryland Ports Administration.

“11 automakers are committed to having driverless car technology ready by 2020. As self-driving cars become the new normal, millions of jobs will be threatened. Automation will lead to ‘fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better.’”

-Business Insider, 2017