The maritime industry is defined by its stability and robustness towards changes in the world around it.

Such a critical pillar of global trade must be able to withstand the fragility of society in terms of geo-political fallouts, increasing prices, shifting trading patterns, wars, climate change, global pandemics and more. No matter what, the ships must sail, the cargo has to move. Ιndustry and consumers expect their goods to be available as expected and on time. As a result, there is no possibility to entertain various modern commercial approach- es such as ‘failing fast and failing often’. This viewpoint is important to understand and appreciate when looking at digitalisation and automation of the industry. 
The workforce in shipping, both on-shore and on the vessels, naturally adopt the same mindset as the industry as a whole. Safe if good, reduce risk, tried and tested approaches are preferred if it’s worked for the last 20 years why change it now. However, the landscape is shifting both through regulatory pressures as well as technological advancements, and no longer can companies and their employees rely on the same approaches they have used in the past. For example, the IMO’s revised GHG strategy has forced a focus on emissions reduction that can only really be met through technology. Noon-reports simply aren’t accurate enough, and now that the penalty impacts the commercial bottom-line, sensors are becoming more common- place. The sensor data then needs to be collected and analysed – so vessel performance software is required. As a result this opens the opportunity for the software to offer more than just regulatory reporting, including digital twins, emissions predictions through A.I. and deep-learning algorithms, and predictive maintenace,
to name a few. Combine this with the drastically improved connectivity of ships through systems such as Starlink, and all of a sudden a whole new world of possibility is opening up. 
Once a company has opened its mind to the need for digitalisation, progress can in theory be quite fast. The adoption of software can spread across the departments, as word travels that common time-consuming, error-prone manual processes may be improved or removed all together. Internal champions are able to promote change far more effectively than external sales teams that promise the world. However, there are always challenges and risks. Change management is rarely handled effectively within a company, as there is simply not the time or inclination to perform 
a full review of current working processes, gap analyses, wide market comparison of solutions, internal feedback from all departments on those solutions and then
an implementation and rollout plan, including dedicated internal champions who will support and manage the whole process. In addition, the truth is that there is
no software that can do it all perfectly, no matter how much market consolidation takes place and how strongly customers push back against having multiple individual software solutions. In the end, each software has a speciality and specific value proposition that must be identified and understood by the customers, after looking deeper under the hood and seeing through the sexy powerpoint presentations and curated demo platforms. They then must ensure the specific value of that software matches their specific need, which also must be clearly defined and agreed on by all stakeholders within the company. 
The industry is modernising, albeit at its own pace, and soon enough software, sensors, digital technology and automation will be a routine part of ship management and operations. As more companies adopt the change, and reap the rewards, other companies will be driven to change or risk losing their competitive edge. All while technology companies improve their offerings and increase the number of case studies to prove their value. 
*General Manager of Avikus for Europe, Middle East and North America