Imagine if an ‘iPhone’ existed, focused on the digital transformation of the shipping industry. Instead of sitting in your pocket, the smart phone manages the ship-based communication layer, ensuring that systems are able to process data effectively. Then, by providing the architecture layer that many ship applications can run on, it enables a ‘marketplace’ of all apps that can function on the ship – democratizing the data so that previously siloed applications can work together to create even more powerful benefits for the ship.

Well that day is rapidly approaching.

As anyone connected to the maritime shipping industry knows, digital transformation is coming as fast to this industry as to any other. Data is now being generated in volumes never-before-seen. Sending all that data into central clouds is no longer feasible (if it ever was).  Connected supply chains, integrated ship operating systems, intelligent voyage optimization, and predictive maintenance requirements are all forcing ship owners and operators to think differently about ship systems.

Unfortunately, ship systems are often siloed from each other. Ever wonder why there are so many different monitors and control stations on the bridge? That’s because these systems are not sharing a common data/compute backbone. This is simply not good enough for the increasingly autonomous shipping fleet of the future.

Edge computing solves many of these problems – but with it comes a new problem: complexity. How is it possible to design, build, deploy, and manage such complex systems running on the ship ‘edge’, all while ensuring such systems are resilient, scalable, and secure?

It’s a challenge.

Yet the benefits of addressing this challenge are huge! 

• Ship owners and operators can gain dramatic reductions in operating and fuel costs
• Governments and governing bodies will achieve CO2 reduction targets ahead of schedule
• Application vendors can gain speed and reduce cost by moving their applications from distant, centralized clouds to ship-based micro clouds
• Hardware OEMs will maximize the value of their components when they can be maintained more proactively and when they are not tied to one, single application

Modern technology is finally coming to the rescue! The next generation of edge computing platforms enables the shipping industry to rapidly configure, provision, and maintain ship-based micro clouds that democratize ship data and truly accelerate powerful applications. 

Want to find out more? Join Pratexo CEO Blaine Mathieu, General Manager Mats Olsson and Telenor Maritime CTIO Knut Fjellheim on May 11 for a discussion of how today’s ship operators are benefiting from next-generation systems running on the ship ‘edge’. In this webinar, ship owners, operators, solution providers, and other industry stakeholders will learn how to achieve benefits including increased efficiency, lower operating costs, and a reduced carbon footprint.

Register here.