INTTRA, the ocean container shipping industry’s largest neutral electronic transaction platform and information provider, hosted executives at its Technology Summit 2017 in Hamburg, Germany recently, providing a forum for more than 150 senior industry leaders to share their views on how digitization and technology are changing the ocean industry sector, while allowing INTTRA to outline its technology blueprint.

The event was attended by senior industry stakeholders from the top 15 ocean carriers, top 20 freight forwarders, and more than one-quarter of the top 50 leading software partners in logistics technology, providing an opportunity to discuss issues impacting the industry, including the pace of innovation, which is accelerating as leaps in computing power and customer demand drive new data analysis and transparency for better decision making across all groups. Other topics included the growth in network standardization, the significant increases in logistics technology investments over the last four years, and a shift to cloud platforms that are continually driving evolution within the ocean industry from manual to digital.

The technology summit highlighted INTTRA’s blueprint vision for the industry which is currently at a tipping point, with changes in business models driving the acceleration of IT adoption. Key trends in digitization that were discussed during the conference included the application of blockchain technology to optimize financial flow in trade management; the convergence of real-time containers tracking supported by the internet of things (IoT) and physical devices; the application of predictive analytics supported by big data for asset management; and the use of artificial intelligence to enhance agile decision making to address issues such as demand planning, space utilization, event disruptions, port congestion and overall operations.

“In addition to the insightful agenda topics, the summit was a unique opportunity for all industry stakeholders to network in one place and discuss their views on the pace of digitization,” said John Fay, President and CEO of INTTRA. “The event highlighted the strength of INTTRA’s neutral position as a strategic technology partner, leading the industry as it progresses along the digital curve.”

“Being a partner of INTTRA offers not only the use of doing business with multiple trading partners and great software products, but also an opportunity to join the dialogue on innovation, as well as participation in various pilots and proofs of concept,” said Inna Kuznetsova, President and COO of INTTRA. “Our customers today recognize the growing digital divide in the industry and the need to innovate to stay ahead.”