Is modern life a blur? For some maybe; for the agile, never.
The way we do things and the speed we do them has never been seen before. From consolidation of our industry to the rise of alliances, from port operators to becoming trade enablers.
Makers of goods want us to add value in different ways, and the platforms to do this are now at our fingertips, impacting the trade process. Robotics and drones, driverless vehicles, AI, big data, and the Internet of Things (IOT) are shaping the future of trade.
And alongside IOT, we are witnessing an Internet of People (IOP), with new jobs appearing, from computer programmers to data specialists and IT engineers.
Any organization’s ability to learn and translate learning into action rapidly is the ultimate competitive advantage. That’s what Dubai did years ago by building Jebel Ali port and becoming a global trade and business hub. That’s what we have done by becoming an enabler of global trade in 40 countries.
Innovation takes many forms. At one level, we had to build bigger “everything” — cranes, berths, depths. At another level, it means being disruptive, moving into new and associated businesses, diversifying to add value for the people who produce.
Our industry is becoming “smarter,” and what was thought impossible is often now thought of as the untried.
Integrating services digitally makes trade faster, safer, and more efficient for stakeholders. Providing solutions that sort the complexities of land, air, and sea transport links and the varied regulations and customs processes to lower costs and make things faster is what they clamor for.
The past gave us firm foundations, but we need to build new ones.