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Description
The main section of this study summarizes overall trends and provides a global overview about developments in all four modes of transport. However, as highlighted in its main findings, technology and automation evolves in different ways in different contexts and environments. While in some countries, certain conditions may allow a new technology to find its way to the market, in other countries such a facilitating environment may not exist. Another factor identified is that the mechanisms behind the introduction of technology and automation in transport are complex. By highlighting general trends, as was mainly done in the Transport 2040: Automation, Technology, Employment – The Future of Work report, a number of interesting details are presented that may help the reader acquire a better understanding of the background and the dynamics in introducing technology and automation in transport – trends that are not necessarily discernible.
The project team also felt that dedicated Technology and Transformation Reports would provide the reader with an enhanced perspective. The concept behind the format of this report is one that has adopted a unified approach to identify the drivers behind the introduction of a certain application of technology or automation in a specific country, and to discuss this application in the context of Norway. These reports focus on six enabling factors introduced in the Transport 2040: Automation, Technology, Employment – The Future of Work report:
1. Technological feasibility – Is the technology ready for its large-scale application?
2. Economic benefits – Has a sound business model been drawn up?
3. Regulation and governance – Are the regulations ready? Are the authorities supportive?
4. Social acceptance – Does society accept the technology?
5. Labour market dynamics – Is labour expensive? Is there a labour shortage?
6. Knowledge and skills – Are users able to master the technology?
In summary, targeted reports, on the basis of the six factors highlighted above, can clearly enrich the discussion about the future of technology and automation in transport, and also provide a sound basis to compare the situation in different countries with the aim of predicting future trends and challenges as a result of a more automated global transport system.
Maritime transportation is fundamental to the world economy and importantly, it is a sector facing major changes due to new technologies and automation. The concept of an “autonomous ship” has recently attracted considerable attention from industry, media and labour organizations alike. The term “autonomous ship” potentially has far-reaching implications for daily life around the planet, for global finance and for the approximately 1.6 million seafarers working in shipping today.
The aim of this Technology and Transformation Report is to describe how autonomous shipping has been developing in a specific country. Norway has been identified as an apposite location to investigate the development of the autonomous ship, new technologies and their implications on seafaring labour and skills, because Norway is at the forefront of technological development, its maritime cluster is a global leader and the country has a long history of maritime seafaring.
This report therefore provides a snapshot of how autonomous shipping, in particular the Yara Birkeland – the first autonomous cargo ship in the world – is developing within the specific context of Norway. The methodology followed ensured that comparisons between this and other studies would be undertaken in different geographical locations with different local contexts. The Technology and Transformation Reports are intended to lead to a better understanding of the technology and of particular countryspecific industry factors that lead technology to develop along a particular path. With respect to the Norwegian case, conclusions are made on the future of its maritime workers based on the situational analysis undertaken in this report.
This report argues that Norwegian seafaring is at a crossroads in terms of the development of new job types and the required seafaring skills to execute them. While the autonomous ship has received considerable attention, what the report will refer to as “digitalization” more broadly is incrementally changing seafaring skills and the technical qualifications that will be required in the industry.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.21677/itf.20190715
ISBN
978-91-984865-3-7 (Print) 978-91-984865-4-4 (Online)
Publication Date
2019
Publisher
World Maritime University
City
Malmö
Disciplines
Operations and Supply Chain Management | Transportation