As a provider of digital solutions servicing multiple transport modes, what are some of the recent trends and challenges you’ve been witnessing and how can players better collaborate to achieve more streamlined operations?

One of the biggest cross-mode challenges we are seeing today is the slow movement of containers or goods. The first reason for this is that many of the trucks will travel to the airport or port around the same time, which slows down the process by creating a bottleneck. Further, physical paperwork still dominates, which means the truck will be parked while the driver has to complete this lengthy process, causing traffic to build up. To put this into perspective, an average air cargo shipment generates 30 types of documents and 124 copies of paper, while the average maritime shipment generates 41 types of documents and over 200 copies of paper. Only about 20 per cent of this is required to be printed by law – the rest can be digitised or eliminated as data exchange, so in effect this is not only cumbersome and time-consuming, but also avoidable.

The third reason is that most terminal operators or cargo handlers only find out on the day how many trucks and what type of cargo they are going to get, which means they don’t have much time to plan for the resources they will need. The final reason for this is that oftentimes the cargo is not even ready once it arrives at the port, so it will end up being stored in front of containers waiting to be loaded.

Do you feel that a rise in protectionist measures across the world will hamper efforts towards better standardisation and harmonisation in the industry?

As the Domain Controller of Cross Border Domain at the United Nations (CEFACT), I should be saying yes. But as a digital solutions provider, I can see that we still have some way to go. We have very well-established standards at the World Customs Organization (WCO) and United Nations level, but adopting those standards is down to every country and government, which the UN and WCO have very little control over.

In light of these issues, what lessons can the maritime industry learn from the world of air cargo?

Digital transformation happened in air cargo quite quickly because various players, such as associations, carriers, and stakeholders, worked very closely together to improve the way they exchange data and proliferate better standards. The approach involved getting the major players who handle large volumes of cargo on board first. Then it was setting realistic targets and timelines, both immediate and long term – rather than just setting standards and hoping the various players will adhere to them. The rest of the industry soon followed and so this method ultimately worked out very well, and there is certainly hope that this can be replicated in some form in maritime.

What is the main issue with the maritime industry’s approach to digital adoption today?

There are already solutions out there for digitising your maritime business. Every organisation’s leadership has a choice when it comes to digital adoption and how and to what extent they would like to implement it.

But there still exists a lack of efficiency when it comes to exchanging data information with the other parties in the supply chain. If this data is sent digitally and in advance, the amount of time you would save is immense. What would take the industry to the next level would be the proliferation of technology systems that integrate all aspects of ports and maritime players and stakeholders, such as a Port Community System – something that was developed by the World Bank and the International Association for Ports and Harbors (IAPH).

Do you feel the Maritime Single Window has been effective in making a difference?
It’s a fantastic concept. What might improve this just a bit more is creating just a single digital platform where all regulatory or quasi-regulatory authorities can give permissions once the data is submitted. This will drastically save on time and translate into a quicker turnaround time for ships.

The main challenge to MSW is enforcement. Many countries have already picked it up and are implementing it, but there are still many others that are waiting by the wayside to see if it becomes a mandatory regulation. That being said, I think adoption continues to spread and we will see more MSW implementation over the next couple of years.

We’re seeing an increase in attacks targeting the data of shipping companies. Is the shipping industry doing enough when it comes to data security?

There is still a lot of hesitancy in data exchange because some feel that they are making themselves vulnerable or giving away proprietary information. This is a myth. You are exchanging the same information that you would on a piece of physical paper. And the traditional way was not foolproof, as information could still get compromised – and it would be harder to track this. In a digital environment, if there is a breach, it is easier to identify and then rectify, as you have cyber liability insurance that can compensate for it.

Additionally, it is often felt that having data on your own computer is safer than the cloud, but this is false. No server in the world is unconnected to the outside world, and if you are going to manage your data in-house, it is limited by your and your team’s knowledge. Data collaboration platforms bring in their own blanket of extra security – for example, cloud-based collaboration platforms typically have seven layers of security, including: screen-level security, database security, network security, transport layer security, encryption, etc. 

Can you provide any real-world examples of where digitalisation has made supply chains stronger and more resilient?

The COVID-19 pandemic is one such example where digitalisation helped resolve a lot of issues. It meant that people could work from anywhere and did not need to go to a port to work. By doing paperwork in advance, you can just send a truck at the slotted time and the cargo moves faster, reducing congestion and therefore better adhering to social distancing rules. And last but not least, the World Health Organization stipulates that any virus can stay on paper for up to 72 hours – so in this scenario, the less paper, the better. Equally, if you have a conflict going on and people need to work from their homes, cloud-based technologies mean you can do all paperwork and exchange information digitally and safely.

How is AI impacting the march towards digitalisation?

One of the greatest benefits is that AI is greatly enhancing forecasting capabilities – from financial and volume to traffic forecasting – all of which is a large and expensive process in a major organisation. This in effect is helping the industry achieve better and more accurate budgeting. Agentification with chatbots has also been transformative in the transport aviation space and has a lot more potential more widely across the supply chain. It has also greatly enhanced and sped up the process, with the capability to quickly extract data from documents and convert it into its digital equivalent.