Fathom asked a number of newly appointed chief digital officers to tell us what they thought about the job and what it is they do.
“Shipping is analogue, the chief digital officer is, well, digital,” said one CDO with pride when describing the role he has in pushing his company into the future.
The chief digital officer, or CDO, is the hot new job title to join the shipping industry and it has a lot to do with the fundamental challenges that are shaping it, both from top down, the so-called Shipping 4.0 revolution, to the bottom up where start-ups and new tools are offering streamlining and cost effectiveness.
Shipping 4.0 could also be called smart shipping, cyber-shipping, digital shipping or more dramatically the fourth revolution.
The CDO is seen by some as increasingly important in driving this and has begun to appear in both shipowners, operators and OEMS: Wärtsilä’s CDO is an appointed board member.
So, what do chief digital officers do? What is their function, what is their role? And is it a job that is likely to be around for long?
There is no short answer to what the CDO does, but in ship-owning and operating businesses, it is those large companies with forward thinking agendas that tend to created such roles.
“These are exciting times and we are making key decisions on platforms and solutions, “said one CDO that will be involved in the transformation of the ship owner and operator as it tackles what are huge challenges in the fundamental structure of the business.
One key function of the CDO appears to be in streamlining and creating the link between the company and its partners, whether suppliers, customers or other business partners. “That is still not done digitally today; it’s like banking in the pre-internet banking era” said one.
In several shipping sectors customers are well advanced in what could be called digital business processes, therefore they want their logistics and shipping suppliers likewise to be applying the digital tools or approaches they have adopted.
Streamlining external business flows is therefore one function of the CDO, and some of the maritime CDOs are eyeing blockchain as a key enabler in achieving this. Blockchain is described as a trust tool, allowing sensitive businesses to be enacted without required costly intermediaries or complex systems needed to secure the trust.
Keeping an eye on the tangibles
One CDO does offer caution about the over-blown coverage being shown by media and the industry to digital evangelism.
“One can grow weary of the exuberance of the disruption and digitalisation talk. It tends to miss the physical reality of logistics and the maritime industries – the tangible facts that make these industries what they are.”
It is, he suggests, like the internet bubble 20 years ago when everyone was excited about the huge disruption the worldwide web would create then. The bubble burst, the honeymoon was over and a sense of commercial reality quickly emerged.
But while offering caution, the same expert also extols where digital solution can offer value, such as blockchain.
Other CDOs are likewise minded about the potential of blockchain in the shipping industry. It is a tool to overcome trust issues and will soon be as common place as an IP address, said one “And we do not get all excited about IP addresses anymore, do we?”
Opening eyes
Sure, there is disruption, but most CDO’s have a vast amount of experience in other industries where new tools have become commonplace, particularly in consumer markets
“How you define disruption will depend on where you stand and for some it may be big, others small, some not at all,” suggested one CDO with a long list of consumer and business- based start-ups under his belt. “We need to start seeing the trees from the leaves.”
The chief digital officer therefore feels a bit out of place. It is their job to. As much as linking with customers as the company changes, it is also to show people in the organisation how to use, trust and adapt to the tools that are emerging. It is about how they work innovatively with each other, and are more comfortable with risk.
The CDO must work on a company’s mindset; many of the employees may have, what one called, a more analogue attitude and need to see what the possibilities are with the new digital tools, rather than see them as a threat.
One CDO also pointed to the role in linking different silos within large organisations that have hitherto not been closely linked, but need to as the company evolves. In a period of change trust is important, especially internally in a company.
“We are the bridge builders, and the eyeopeners” adding that the CDO’s job is not as much about working with software code and digital data as working out how the company will evolve with the market and keep customers that may be evolving faster or slower.
“It is important to be on the lookout for tools that can leverage the opportunities being offered,” said another, hence a handful of companies have begun launching workshops and venture capital incubator style labs that can bring in startups and offer them the opportunities they need (ships, technology and even willing customers to beta test).
Short life span?
But will the maritime CDO be a long-term job title in shipping? Looking at other sectors, one may suggest not.
An article in Forbes magazine early last year by Theo Priestly, a self-proclaimed global evangelist at tech giant SAP, already suggested that the days of the CDO may soon be over.
The term digital has been around for decades, he suggests, and it does not, deep down, make a fundamental change to a company’s engagement with customers.
The problem is, suggested Priestley, that the functions of the CDO are also covered by C-Suite job titles that are already deeply entrenched in a company. He also thinks that the common traits of CDO’s should be ubiquitous across the company, namely a champion of innovation, transformation, of the customers, of agility, of collaboration and of marketing.
So while the role may be fading in mainstream businesses that are comfortable with their transformation, the role may be around in the shipping and maritime sectors for a while, especially given the reluctance in these industries to willingly give up old habits.
