“We are creating technologies that can make shipping greener and thus help the environment and future generations prosper,” said Jesper Bo Hansen, chief revenue officer of Zero North, during the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum of Posidonia.
The founders and CEOs of several maritime technology startups held discussions on the burning issues of carbon emissions and the digitalisation of the shipping industry.
The speakers agreed on the power of digital solutions and how they can act as a catalyst for change.
“At the end of the day, data will win, it’s just a matter of time how one decides to embrace it and leverage it. It’s important to be able to have access to correct data and the understanding of what that data can do for you,” said Jesper Bo Hansen, whose company raised a US$50 million Series B round a few days ago.
Eleni Polychronopoulou, president of METIS CyberTechnology, which specialises in marine information intelligence solutions to improve performance, optimise fuel oil consumption and reduce emissions, said, that “we analyse the past, acquire the knowledge, make sense of the data and then help shipowners make better and more accurate predictions about what to do in the future”.
“The more data we have and analyse, the more accurate your predictions for the future will be, and the more informed and fact-based your discussions with regulators and policy makers can be,” she added.
Ioannis Martinos, CEO of The Signal Group, commented, “policy makers should be more decisive. Shipowners need clarity, they are not chemists. Scientists and policy makers need to guide them and tell them which direction they should move toward.”
“I believe that family businesses and industrial investors are a better fit for maritime tech innovators and they should be teaming up with entrepreneurs to help drive the sector forward, faster,” stated Birgit Liodden, CEO of Ocean Opportunity Lab.
However, Martinos noted, “democratisation of data won’t happen for a variety of reasons. Data owners should be sharing the right data with the right stakeholders at the right time and not for the sake of perceived transparency.”
The panel also discussed the prospects of the Greek martech ecosystem and agreed that it is ideally located to take a leading role in the development of the industry worldwide.
Jesper Bo Hansen said that “shipping businesses cannot remain the same and people cannot discount what data and digitisation can bring to the industry.”
