THE Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) has incorporated in Hong Kong after securing regulatory approvals and has commenced operations to accelerate digital transformation of the shipping industry.

Non-profit GSBN was established to streamline operations digitally and was formed by carriers and terminal operators including Cosco Shipping, Cosco Shipping Ports, Hapag-Lloyd, Hutchison Ports, OOCL, SPG Qingdao Port, PSA International and Shanghai International Port Group.

The year-long Covid crisis has occasioned widespread production shutdowns and unpredictable effects on supply chains, said the GSBN press release.

"Lockdowns and the explosive growth in e-commerce business have pushed the industry as a whole to its limits," it said.

GSBN’s vision is to enable and accelerate the digital transformation of the shipping industry, through a secure data exchange platform, to enable the shipping industry to do the following:

Facilitate better digital connections and collaboration between stakeholders, improve the visibility to enhance sustainability and reliability of operations and create a data utility platform to unlock the value of digital transformation for all.

Said Hapag-Lloyd IT chief Martin Gnass "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, he said.

It will provide a better user experience, enabling industry players to interact with data and redefine legacy processes. For example, many industry stakeholders still rely on manual processes or traditional EDIs instead of APIs for some of their most critical tasks.

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, said the press release.

Said PSA International cargo solutions cheif Ho Ghim Siew: "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."