Over the past few years, IBM has partnered up with industry majors such as Maersk Group and CMA CGM in order to digitize their ways of doing business.
Bret Greenstein; Image Courtesy: Twitter
World Maritime News spoke with Mr. Greenstein on the digital transformation of the maritime industry and IBM’s role in the process on the back of the company’s recent announcement on establishing cooperation with the Port of Rotterdam Authority aimed at making Rotterdam a “smart port of the future.”
Greenstein points out that the technology is transforming every aspect of every industry, and early adopters will be able to boost their competitive edge
“In fact, according to estimates at the Port of Rotterdam, shipping companies and the port stand to save up to one hour in berthing time, which can amount to about USD 80,000 in savings for ship operators and enables the port to dock more ships each day.”
The digitization of the Port of Rotterdam involves replacing traditional and manual communication methods with solutions powered by big data, IoT and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The shipping industry, in particular, is a critical part of the global supply chain, as more than 85 percent of globally traded goods travel on a ship at least once during their lifecycle.
“Digitizing the shipping industry enables supply chains and businesses to be more efficient, cost-effective, and transparent. As the industry transforms with digital technologies, we’ll start to see operations improve with less wait times for ships, easier communication between the multiple parties involved in the port, and streamlined traffic flows,” Greenstein said.
Image Courtesy: IBM
With regard to the sentiment among industry players when it comes to adopting digitization, IBM’s expert says that the industry is highly optimistic about digital adoption and its business benefits.
“You’ll see many ports around the world starting to explore digitization and understand how it can impact their business.
“The Port of Rotterdam, specifically, has entered into a multi-phase digital transformation to become the smartest port in the world. This means better operations now, but also the ability to accommodate autonomous ships in the future,” Greenstein noted.
Digitization and blockchain technology are fairly new trends in the industry. Hence, there are various challenges taking into account the complexity of the supply chain.
According to Greenstein, there is a common misconception that blockchain or IoT are one-size-fits-all solutions when it comes to the supply chain.
“Right now, we’re still in a period of education and increasing the understanding of how these technologies apply to each individual business. (…) However, each business has its own set of supply chain needs that need to be considered. We educate our clients on how to apply — and more importantly, scale – these technologies so they are best suited to their business.”
Considering the ever-growing threat of cyber attacks, WMN was interested in IBM’s approach when it comes to ensuring security and confidentiality of data.
The financial cost of such a breach, which remain unreported or even unidentified by companies to a great extent, can reach millions of dollars.
To remind, the cyber attack that hit Danish-based A.P. Moller – Maersk on June 27, 2017 damaged the company’s business performance by up to USD 300 million in the Q3, 2017.
“Savvy players in every industry know that in today’s data-driven, highly distributed world, data privacy and security must be addressed head-on,” Greenstein stressed.
“IBM’s IoT platform has security built in by design and is built on the highest standards of security and it extends the same grade of security to applications that fully leverage available security features.
“With our advanced Threat Intelligence for IoT security capabilities, customers may now visualize critical risks in the IoT landscape and create policy-driven mitigation actions to automate operational responses for IoT devices at scale.”
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