Avoiding Digital Cholesterol
You can never have too much of a good thing. That is pretty much the basic thrust of our modern world view. If something is working then you must have more. And if it doesn’t work? Well, you must need more. Does that same approach and assessment work in the world of maritime informatics?
I looked at the process of the digitalisation of shipping in an earlier article “Diving into Digitalisation” https://bit.ly/2QnnbIP and discussed the fact the voyage toward digital nirvana is not simply about data, it is about the context of the data, how it is connected and used to paint a picture. Then it is ultimately about sharing too.
This pushes us into the scary domain of collaborative decision making. Something which isn’t always comfortable for shipping. It is one thing to take charge of your destiny and knowledge, but for ship owners, operators and managers it becomes something altogether different when they have to share and plug into the maritime eco-system.
This is about “interconnectedness”. There are potential problems in making sure all the various stars in the maritime informatics universe align. Getting different companies, people, technologies and even diverse industries on the same page is a challenge.
It is slowly being won, as the benefits of collaboration become apparent. That said, the big fear is that the promises may not transpire, and we’ll get a doubling down on things that aren’t delivering. The fears of digital cholesterol furring the arteries of trade is a real concern. Where too much residue slows everything.
THE DIVINE DATA HOST
As maritime technologists and evangelists for what new digital thinking can bring, we need to be ahead of this potential problem. We have to be the statins cleansing as we go, making sure each end and the middle are all fit to receive and produce. We blast through the data, without barriers and without slowing or pinch points.
The shipping industry is not an easy place to push boundaries or roll out new ideas. The sea itself punishes hubris, and the gnarly decision-makers are not on their first voyage around the pond. So, it can be a challenge to get the head of the collective industry to swing. Then suddenly once it starts to go, then you have to be sure we’re able to hold a new course and not be zig-zagging our way, lurching from new tech promise to new tech dream.
Often companies are slow to see the benefits, then suddenly they are grabbing everything. The challenge, of course, is ensuring maritime informatics is understood, properly rolled out and meshes with the existing and unaltered demands of the industry. That of the cost-conscious delivery of safe, secure and efficient maritime movement.
Even the most amazing concept can become confused if we don’t remain focused on what it needs to do, and how it can do it. Leaping too far beyond those most basic set of questions runs the risk of the idea running away from reality, and while the art of the possible has to eventually lead the practical, we cannot let them become too distanced.
WHAT WE WANT AND NEED
Data, digitalisation, strategic planning and efficiency, as well as cooperation, are the foundations of what makes maritime informatics work. Indeed, Mikael Lind, the leading light of the tech cause, sees maritime informatics as a “better glue” to bind information and processes together. Leading to better results too.
What that means is the collective post-it notes of a gazillion ship and port operations can finally be brought together. Stuck in a coherent and useful way, one that allows the industry to learn, understand, to know and to grow.
By bringing the players of the shipping industry together, then we see information shared. We then see collaboration. This can reduce waste, pollution, carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency. It does more though, it can enhance decision making, as companies have the situational awareness, information and data to make the right calls.
What we see is that the basic concept of maritime informatics is sound, it is noble, pure and can bring such clear and obvious benefits. Alas, perhaps what goes unseen is the threats of not using or applying it properly. Blockchain, AI, IoT and big data are already making their mark, but they are also already being misunderstood, abused, and misquoted, then used to collect the biggest prize in boardroom bingo. Causing logjams because we do not fully yet know how to get everything playing nicely together.
EXPANDING THE VIEW
Shipping companies are increasingly keen to apply the latest analytics methods to generate wisdom and value. Where in the recent past this was perhaps just the two or three big liner firms, the desire for data extends deep down through the strata of the industry.
This is positive and real progress. Indeed lest we forget, we can’t have smart supply chains and ports if we have dumb ships. There was no point in thinking data can make a difference if only the top 10% of the industry have it. It has to be shared out across the board. So, while it is wonderful to see the boom in desire, there are challenges too.
Alas, some owners have made the mistake of trying to glean anecdotal correlations from big data. This has not worked as there has been little or no measurable value, and insufficient buy-in from various parts of the business. Others have the right attitudes and hunger throughout the company, but they are suffering from poor connections into the actual operations.
When the anticipated outcomes don’t deliver, the enthusiasm falls away. If the commercial returns aren’t boosted, blame shifts to the data for not delivering. The move from binnacles to binary has seen fingers pointed. So much so we’ve seen as much a digit revolution as a digital one.
ON A BAD DATA
Lame jokes aside, blaming the data or the concepts of digitalisation is neither fair nor factual. This isn’t about “bad” data, this is about misunderstanding and poor processes. The potential wins are lost when we just have data furring up the arteries of a business.
Without a means of connecting what is collected, then it is hard to do the right thing. However, without doing the right things, then the whole process falls over. People get frustrated, investors twitchy and seafarers very angry indeed.
So, this is not about more, it is not just about gathering all we can find out, the process is about using more, and using it better. In doing so we have to answer the right questions, prove value, and take the process from insight to impact.
The danger is that in misunderstanding Lind’s “glue” analogy, we apply too much or too little. We gum our operations up, or we see them fall apart. It is vital that the use of data or of sharing and collaboration is managed wisely. It needs to be part of a solution, not the answer itself. The results that shipping need rests on our foundation of facts and a means of all parties using, sharing and ultimately benefiting.
