By L. Karageorgos
The rapid pace of technological advancements in maritime shipping over recent years is dramatically transforming and expanding the sector’s prospects, yet the “human factor” will remain imperative and irreplaceable, Metis Cyberspace Technology CEO Mike Konstantinidis told “N” this week.
The head of the high-flying marine and shipping IT and software provider referred directly to close cooperation between new technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and all-important human skills.
“We’re talking about the reinforcement, through technology, of mariners’ skills, Konstantinidis said.
Asked about his Athens-based company’s pioneering AI-based system for ocean-going commercial vessels, he cited what he called an entirely developed “virtual assistant”, one that monitors every function and operation aboard a ship on a 24/7 basis.
The AI-component of the Metis system, as he says, then anticipates possible problems and glitches, issuing relevant alerts and providing detailed and targeted reports to users, ones based on inputted parameters.
At the same time, Konstantinidis said shipping is among the last industrial sectors to fully exploit hi-tech advancements and solutions.
“Today, we’re before a ‘fourth revolution’ - the digital transformation of global shipping… all of the necessary conditions have now been fulfilled; there's Internet connectivity practically everywhere on the planet, in all oceans and seas, and at a satisfactory level, something that was missing three to five years ago,” he added.
