In my position as FIATA president, I have been asked to reflect about the most important trends that will condition logistics in the coming year. Logistics is the main facilitator of international trade; for this reason, anything affecting trade affects logistics. This is a time of rapid changes and even whimsical development, powerfully reflecting on logistics; we experience pressure to evolve on to a new service paradigm that can address the requirements imposed on us by the ingress of e-commerce. Our still antiquated paper-based transactional habits need to leapfrog into mobile-enabled logistics at accelerated pace, in my view. This is a powerful force pushing toward an even more ubiquitous and globalized trade pattern.
On the other side, and from some points of view faring in opposite direction, we have a strong political movement in many countries pushing toward local reappropriation of trade. This is noticeable in the increasing difficulty experienced in reaching global trade deals and the increased pressure toward protectionism.
An interesting time ahead, we shall see whether 2017 manages to strike a balance between the most powerful free trade movement (global e-commerce assisted by the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement) and the political pressure to bring trade back into national boundaries. Whatever happens, logistics will have to adapt and assist with innovative services, and we must brace for this change, which is both a challenge and a chance.