Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) has been incorporated in Hong Kong after securing the requisite approvals across multiple jurisdictions and has officially started its operations to accelerate digitalisation in the maritime industry.
In a statement, GSBN, whose shareholders include Hapag-Lloyd, COSCO Shipping, COSCO Shipping Ports, Hutchison Ports OOCL, SPG Qingdao Port, PSA International and Shanghai International Port Group, has been established on a not-for-profit basis.
Furthermore, it said the pandemic had demonstrated the world’s interdependence and the importance of global trade.
“Widespread production shutdowns in various countries had unpredictable effects on major businesses’ supply chains across all sectors,” it said.
“Lockdowns and the following explosive growth in e-commerce business have pushed the industry as a whole to its limits.”
GSBN’s vision is to enable and accelerate the digital transformation of the shipping industry, through the setup of a secure Data Exchange Platform, which will enable the shipping industry to improve its resilience by acilitating better digital connection and collaboration between stakeholders.
It will also improve data visibility by enhancing sustainability and reliability of operations and create a utility platform to unlock the value of digital transformation.
Martin Gnass, Managing Director IT of Hapag-Lloyd, said, “The foundation of GSBN symbolizes an important milestone towards establishing an industry-wide, secure, digital collaboration platform that aims to benefit all parties in the global supply chain.
“GSBN will accelerate the sharing of verified logistics and cargo data, streamline business operations across the whole supply chain, and create value to each stakeholder.”
Leveraging Blockchain technology, GSBN will provide a platform, which enables its users to exchange first party, real-time, and trusted logistics data. The platform will provide a better user experience, enabling industry players to interact with data and redefine legacy processes.
Additionally, the platform has strong data governance, to ensure that only authorised parties are granted access rights to view and use the data. Data submitted to GSBN’s platform are fully encrypted with private keys, and the data access rights are managed at the data field level.
Enhanced data security measures will also ensure commercially sensitive information is protected against unauthorised or inappropriate disclosure or use.
GSBN has also been set up on a not-for-profit basis so that it can economically motivate each member to participate and contribute high quality data. In the future, GSBN will establish a framework with all stakeholders to share the benefit derived from data products built on top of the platform using their data.
Ho Ghim Siew, Head of Group Commercial, Strategy and Cargo Solutions, PSA International, said, “The ability to collaborate in a trusted and secure manner is key for us to fully realise the opportunities from our increasingly digital and interdependent world.
“The GSBN platform will allow stakeholders and industry players to share timely information to facilitate downstream transactions and activities, with the assurance that their data is protected by strong data governance structures.
“PSA International is excited to be part of GSBN’s incorporation milestone. We look forward to co-creating innovative solutions with industry players through the GSBN platform, and generating new value for cargo owners and supply chain stakeholders.”
Bertrand Chen, Chief Executive Officer, Global Shipping Business Network, also commented, “I am grateful for the trust our Shareholders have put in me to head up this new and exciting business venture.
“We will build a diverse, multi-cultural, and innovative team to collaborate with stakeholders across regions and industries, from logistics service providers to financial institutions.
“We aim to increase the speed of logistics and the ease of conducting trade globally, ultimately benefitting all parties involved. We are here to simplify trade for all.”
