DRIVING DIGITAL CHANGE: THE INFLUENCE OF DCSA ON THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY

Introduction:

André Simha: Thomas, what a pleasure to have you today with us in Geneva for this new episode of our MSC Digital Talks. There hasn't been a Digital Talk without a mention of DCSA*, so having you as the CEO of DCSA with us today is a real pleasure.

Thomas Bagge: Thank you for the invitation, André.

André Simha: For those of our viewers who are not familiar with DCSA, could you perhaps explain to us a little bit how this all started? Why DCSA? What were the reasons behind creating this association?

Thomas Bagge: DCSA was founded five years ago in 2019 by five of the leading ocean carriers and then later joined by five more, in the realization that if we really wanted to advance our industry digitally, then we had to collaborate around non-compete processes and standards.

André Simha: Now, perhaps you can give us a few key facts and figures about where DCSA is today after these five years.

Thomas Bagge: Yes, absolutely. We have about 60 full-time employees with 20 nationalities, so quite a lot of diversity there. We are very proud of that, of course. We collaborate, of course, with the vast, much larger community with the container carriers, but also with technology service providers, ports and terminals and of course, regulators and governments. We have ten members, and the ten members represent about 75% of the containerized trade capacity.

André Simha: And DCSA is a not-for-profit association, a neutral body creating standards that are open source, free for all. How does that work?

Thomas Bagge: If you want to move the ecosystem, you definitely don't want to create barriers. So right from the get-go it was very important that this was not-for-profit, that it was freely available to any actor in the trade ecosystem.

DIVIDER: DCSA’S DIGITAL JOURNEY: THE STORY SO FAR

André Simha: Now, perhaps a little bit more on the journey, some key milestones in the past couple of years. What's happened so far?

Thomas Bagge: When we started out DCSA, it was important for us to understand the landscape that we're trying to change. So, we had EDI samples from a number of the carriers, we analysed them, and we found that there's approximately 250 data attributes used in container shipping. And we've gone about standardizing them. We've standardized about 75% of the data attributes that are used, that's the big thing we do. But there's also other things. So, one milestone that we are very proud of is the February 2023 commitment of all of our members to move, their part, the Bill of Lading towards digital by 2030. We think that's a major milestone for us.

André Simha: The 100% eBL by 2030.

Thomas Bagge: Yes, the electronic Bill of Lading being so critical to global trade. And of course, if we want to digitalize trade, we need to start with the Bill of Lading, or that is definitely a must, and then move on to other trade documents.

André Simha: Sure, sure. Very clear. Thomas: And then there's of course, other parts that we are very proud of along our period. I mean, we were mentioned in the Queen's Speech in the UK two years ago. And that's also for the work on digitalizing trade. So that's a major milestone.

[Woman: Indeed, the Digital Container Shipping Association has estimated that 16 million original bills of lading were issued by ocean carriers 2020, and that more than 99% of all these were in paper form].

André Simha: And of course, in these five years, DCSA has gained a lot of credibility also with governments, with international organizations. Various other standards associations. How does that impact the work that you do, Thomas?

Thomas Bagge: International trade is incredibly complex, and one of the reasons it's complex is because there are so many stakeholders. There are many customs authorities, rulebooks that need to be adhered to. And therefore, we found it very, very important right from the get-go to say if we don't involve, amongst others, the regulators and government agencies early, we would see that as a major risk. So, we're really pleased with the recognition that we've had from several organizations, like the WTO or the government in the UK that we've dealt a lot with, but I think most notably from the Federal Maritime Commission and the US government.

André Simha: So that that makes DCSA more and more relevant in all these conversations, including with the banks that I think we didn't mention. That really demonstrates, I think, the progression that DCSA has made in the last couple of years.

DIVIDER: DCSA STANDARDS: FROM CREATION TO ADOPTION

André Simha: So, Thomas, it's no secret that I'm also the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the DCSA. I've seen the evolution of the work we've been doing on standards in the past couple of years. But of course, it's also about adoption. It's also about evangelizing the ecosystem.

Thomas Bagge: Yes, so the first part of our journey was around creating the standards. We have a substantial amount of standards that are now ready. And we are also seeing that implementation with our members is picking up. The carriers are implementing three times the amount of standards in 2024 than they did in the 2019 to 2023 period. In October 2023, there was around 100 million calls on our APIs every month. That number is now 180 million. So, it's up by 80%. Now, that obviously also means that we are now at a stage where we can take that conversation to the next level, where we can speak to the customers of the industry, the partners of the industry, the technology service providers with a completely different level of confidence.

André Simha: So, this is really something that must be very gratifying for you and the teams.

Thomas Bagge: Oh yes, I mean we are certainly proud of the journey. It's been, as you know, a journey with COVID in between and a lot of disruptions, so we're in a good place.

André Simha: So, Thomas, looking at the future, what are the next steps? What's in store for DCSA?

Thomas Bagge: So firstly, we're going to focus on doing the last or the remaining 26% of the data attributes. And once we have that we'll be able to package out the standard messages a lot quicker. Our focus is very much on trying to digitalize trade, so we focus on that. We are driving the Bill of Lading uptake. But the most important thing is always the customers, and the customers need to benefit from this. So, we are spending a lot of our efforts now and in the coming years trying to make those benefits come alive for the customers of the industry.

André Simha: Well Thomas, all that is super exciting and the future looks very bright. Thank you again so much for participating in this Digital Talk. Of course, to our viewers, don't hesitate to visit www.dcsa.org, register to get the regular news from Thomas and the team, and let's keep going. Thank you, Thomas.

Thomas Bagge: Thank you for the invitation, André.

*DCSA: Digital Container Shipping Association