Digitisation: Are we ready

At the outset the prudent question to ask is not “if we are ready to embrace digitisation” but “when we will”.

Introduction

In an era when digital transformation is as rapid as never seen before, we see digital transformation leading to improved business performance and much simpler user experiences. The freight forwarding fraternity in Sri Lanka will only do well to embrace the transformation taking place sooner than later, if we are to compete with the region and cement ourselves as global players with proficiency. The current pandemic has forced us to see the need for creating a paperless environment in trading with a view to maintaining public health and healthcare services. This may have been bestowed upon us as a blessing in disguise enabling the fast forward approach in e-commerce activity be it in B2B, B2C, B2G or G2B.

At a time, such as this, it would be rather ironic for me to state that “The City of the Day After Tomorrow”, a prediction made far back in 1964 by our very own resident of great academia Professor Arthur C. Clarke, was as if of a fortune teller. It is the belief of many that he had the insight that most did not to predict the future when he did mention that “the traditional role of the city where men would meet to discuss business will be no more”. This direction whether good or bad, leaves us with no choice within the circumstances forced upon us by the current pandemic.

What is the need of digitisation?

Wikipedia explains that digitisation is of crucial importance to data processing, storage and transmission, because it “allows information of all kinds in all formats to be carried with the same efficiency and also intermingled”. Digitisation is the process of converting information into a digital format, in which the information is organised into bits. The result is the representation of an object, image, sound, document or signal by generating a series of numbers that describe a discrete set of points or samples. 

Digitisation is also the automation of existing manual and paper-based processes, enabled by the digitisation of information; from an analogue to a digital format. Digitisation is indeed mainly used in a context of document capture and scanning, and in a context of digitising business processes. Thus, one may argue that if digitisation is a conversion of data and processes, digitalisation is a transformation, which embraces the ability of digital technology to collect data, establish trends and make better business decisions which is an opportunity for any business to derive efficiency, effectiveness with near zero error. Accordingly, digitalisation it very well should be!

Is digitisation good or bad?

It is said that digitisation is neither good nor bad. The degree to which it will have a positive or negative impact on society and the world are entirely up to the creators of new technology and the consumers of that capability. Thus, responsibility and digitalisation will have to go hand in glove.

So, are we geared?

In Sri Lanka, what is needed is greater political will to align and share data. Greater awareness of the mutual benefit would be a powerful incentive to share, and to build collection pipelines with interoperability in mind. In this respect, COVID-19 is a rare prompt for new collaboration across industry and the government for the public good which could permit real insights to be gained from digital data. It is said that there lie four types of digital transformation encompassing business processes, business models, domain, and cultural/organisational aspects. However, it is often seen that organisations focuses solely on processes than organisational transformation. Sri Lankan organisations will do well to embrace the gamut of criteria to reap sustainable benefits through digitisation. 

In the right direction

A positive in this direction is the initiative taken by SLFFA Cargo Services to seamlessly exchange vital information in order to facilitate the smooth transition of cargo received by air to the end receiver. SLFFA Cargo Services Ltd., in line with its objectives to meet the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) safety standards initiated the seamless exchanges of vital information for the logistics industry through the CCN (Cargo Community System) solutions. 

This was set about to ensure a safe ‘Recommended Practice’ of processing cargo through the terminal within a maximum period of four hours from the time of receipt of cargo by air, thereby minimising cargo delivery time at the airport. The CCN-hub has been providing Cargo Community System (CCS) solutions for the airfreight industry since 1991 and enables seamless exchanges and management of vital information for the logistics industry. Some of them are E-bookings, Track & Trace, AWB Inventory Management, Manifesting, etc.

Impact of ill preparedness

Sri Lanka appears to be lagging digitisation in comparison to our neighbours. India, Pakistan and even Bangladesh are supposedly way ahead of us in terms of digitalisation and the move towards a paperless process. Our neighbours have made greater strides towards the initiatives in terms of their respective national single windows in a shorter span of time, thus positively impacting the ease of doing business index. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the logistics arena of the neighbouring nations seems to have been circumvented due to the infrastructure that is in place as opposed to Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lanka has not made much headway in terms of achieving full status of a National Single Window pursuant to the inaugural initiative 25 years back to transmit data via EDI between the Trade and the Sri Lanka Customs. Greater Political will and allocation of funds are essential elements in setting about the platform in the recognition of creating ease in doing business in Sri Lanka.

Are we the people ready?

With over 10 million internet users in Sri Lanka by January 2020, an increase of +4.1% between 2019 and 2020 and the internet penetration in Sri Lanka which stood at 47% in January 2020, the interest towards technological advancements certainly does not lack within the community. In fact, there were 6.40 million social media users in Sri Lanka in January 2020, an increase of +8.3% between April 2019 and January 2020. Mobile connection in Sri Lanka stood at 31.80 million in January 2020, which is more than the population of this country. 

The number of mobile connections in Sri Lanka is said to have increased by 2.2 million (+7.5%) between January 2019 and January 2020. In fact, the total number of mobile connections in Sri Lanka by January 2020 was equivalent to 149% of the total population. These statistics is clear evidence that the people of this nation are no strangers to technological advancements. Perhaps, it is the infrastructure and the use of technological advancements in e-Commerce i.e. B2B & B2C and more importantly the B2G & G2B that needs a boost.

Future

The Government may do well to provide suitable incentives for business to move along with IOT, AI, Blockchain, Robotics, RFID, Cloud, etc., in the drive to embrace infrastructure in relation to technological advancements in this disruptive era! It is of paramount importance that Sri Lanka’s commercial and state institutions become more focused on the urgent need to empower their people with the relevant knowledge and attitudes to implement simple new technology and transform their processes to become accomplished toward digitisation

Conclusion

It is not just the direction of the global race of survival in becoming more competitive, it has fast become a prerequisite for the very survival of any business (leave alone freight forwarding) in the context of the current pandemic and the post-pandemic era.