If you ask Lars Jensen, CEO at SeaIntelligence Consulting, the Corona pandemic hasn’t changed anything in the shipping industry. It has, however, given container shipping a small nudge forward. You can hear more about Lars Jensen’s take on the future at the Digital Container Summit 2020.
“I’m going to be provocative and say the pandemic doesn’t change anything. Nothing at all.”
These are the words of Lars Jensen, CEO at SeaIntelligence Consulting. For almost 20 years he has worked in container shipping. Most of the time as an analyst – now his job, put simply, is to predict the future of the container shipping industry.
These forecasts and market analysis’ will Lars Jensen be sharing as a keynote speaker at the Digital Container Summit 2020 in September. Under the keynote ‘How disruptive is the pandemic to container shipping, and which changes will become permanent?’.
Continue reading and you will get a small sneak peek of what Lars Jensen believes the future of the industry holds 💡
Looking into the crystal ball
That the pandemic has and will have an impact on the industry is a given, but it won’t change anything in the industry. When Lars Jensen looks into his crystal ball, what he sees isn’t a new world on the other side of the Corona-pandemic. Instead, the pandemic will push container shipping forward, Jensen states:
“What it does is, it accelerates an underlying trend that was already there. So, you’re going to see a much faster uptake of some of the digital tools out there.”
You can hear more about why Lars Jensen believes working from home and digitalization can cost future jobs. And his take on robot trucks in the countryside in the video below 👇
The faster uptake has the potential to speed up the digitalization of the industry. Which can result in container shipping progressing faster than anticipated. And here, we’re talking about moving years faster, Jensen explains. But this digital revolution isn’t just going fast. It’s going really fast.
“Right now, it is a stress test of which of all of the many tools do actually deliver value right here and now. They will become the winners in the digital landscape,” states Jensen.
Back to the 2000s
Let’s go back 15-20 years and have a look at the software that was built then. Let us then compare it with the software available today. If we do that, we won’t see much of a difference, according to Jensen.
“If we disregard hardware, especially on the Internet of Things (IoT) front, but look at the software front, then there’s nothing new. Everything we’ve seen was already here 15-20 years ago. But the difference is, 15-20 years ago it failed to have any commercial impact. Most of it was tested, it worked technically. But nobody wanted to use it.” 
The fact that no one seemed to be interested in using the technology that was available put a halt to the digital revolution of the container shipping industry, states Jensen. But it isn’t necessarily a problem that there isn’t much new on the market.
“It just points to that technology is not the important part. It’s not technology that has been the roadblock. If technology was the issue, we would have been where we are now 20 years ago. So, the issue is in business processes and in mindset. That is the interesting part, and that is what has changed.”
This change and more, can you hear Lars Jensen talk about in-depth at the Digital Container Summit 2020 – just click on the banner above and get your ticket 👆
About the Digital Container Summit 2020
This year’s Digital Container Summit will be just that – digital. We, at xChange, are creating an online event on September 3rd. That has all the most important features from last year’s Digital Container Summit. This way, you will get a full day of personal video meetings with other shipping companies organized for you to discuss business. As well as getting updated on the latest trends and changes in the industry.
Find, meet, and build businesses with new partners around the world. Schedule face-to-face personal meetings with thousands of owners, directors, operations people from the container shipping industry. All this, without the high traveling costs, VISA application, and accommodation.
There will also be keynote sessions and virtual workshops by industry leaders. These sessions will be live-streamed with an interactive chat. That way you can ask questions on the current topics, that’ll be discussed.
The Digital Container Summit 2020 is open to the entire container logistics industry. The DCS is the only industrywide networking opportunity in 2020.
So, click on the banner below, and give yourself the opportunity to expand your network and be updated on the on-goings in the industry, all from the comfort of your computer screen.
