Towards Shipping 4.0. A preliminary gap analysis

The paradigm of Industry 4.0 involves a substantial innovation to the value creation approach thought the supply chain and the application of digital enabling technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data Analytics (BDA) and cloud computing. The fourth industrial revolution is thus expected to have a disruptive impact on maritime transport and shipping sectors, where smart ships and autonomous vessels well be part of a new and fully interconnected maritime ecosystem. Specific hardware components, such as sensors, actuators, or processors will be embedded in the ship’s key systems in order to provide valuable information to increase the efficiency, sustainability and safety of maritime transport. The big challenge is thus to design more efficient business models where digitized information will be effectively employed to strengthen the value chain. This paper addresses such topic discussing by performing a gap analysis between current (traditional) business models and next generation digitized shipping industry, discussing the maturity level and the technological barriers.