| | SEP - OCT, 20188E ERGYTech ReviewClass Delivers the Smart Shipping VisionBy Howard Fireman, Chief Digital Officer, ABSThe maritime industry's digital transformation is in full swing, impacting the smallest vendor to the largest owner, across flag, class and shipyards, right up to the primary regulator. In terms of early maritime adopters, its clear investment was focused in energy-related sectors, on assets with high degrees of technical complexity. As more mainstream marine companies embrace digital business, they must work to define and align their digital strategy to their business outcomes.A digital and data strategy cuts across broader industry trends ­performance optimisation, regulatory and environmental compliance and cyber security. As we look forward, it is essential that partners and suppliers are aligned with business outcomes.Customers FirstIt is clear that digital revolution will have a major impact on how class delivers its primary services. Our objective is the same as it has always been: setting standards for safety and excellence in design, construction and operation ­ but the process of how we deliver services will be transformed ­ from plan review to classification and survey throughout the life of the asset.A digital-enabled class strategy integrates four key elements to deliver services to clients: connectivity, decision-making, efficiency and unlocking the power of data.This strategy is underpinned by a simple premise: supporting clients from vessel design through operations and maintenance requires that class develops and deploys a lifecycle viewpoint on data. Data use cannot be limited to operations alone, as lessons learned along the way will likely impact the next generation of vessel designs.Class is focused on making the connection to client data easier and creating new solutions, while leading the way to digitally-enabled class.We believe that the class experience ­ for clients and other stakeholders ­ will change significantly in the future. Some customers are just beginning to understand what it means to treat data as a valuable asset, while others already appreciate the importance of data and how it can be harnessed.A customer interface must offer access to everything an owner or operator needs to know ­ fleet status, statistics, certification, which ships are coming due for survey, as well as comments from the engineering department.In MyOpinion
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