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ing increase in knowledge required by modern mariners. Learning technologies provide the higher level of train- ing sophistication required to teach this knowledge and assess whether it has been correctly learned. Finally, a third driver is the series of recent high profile accidents in the industry and the recognition that learning tech-nologies can play a major role in improving safety and performance. In your estimation, what has been the biggest driving force for the utilization of IT solutions onboard ships? deBruyne, EdocAs I see it there are two major driving forces. One is broadband communication. The cost of data transmission has come down significantly. Prior to this decrease in costs, data transmission was prohibitive and the office was more focused on collecting only mis- sion critical data from vessels. Today, more data can be transmitted from vessels for analysis and trending, which can make the entire operation much more effi- cient. The other contributing factor has been the advent of the smart phone. Prior to the smart phone there wasa large segment of the population that was technology adverse. Things like the iPhone have made people from this segment much more accepting of technology, and it gives us an opportunity to put software in front of them onboard their vessels. The improvements in user inter- faces are significant in terms of simplicity too, and that has been a major contributing factor for us because we have concentrated on the simplicity of the user interface and the end user. We try to make their job as easy as pos- sible, so they can focus on running their vessel. Hughey, ABS Nautical Systems I believe there are two driving forces when it comes to the utilization of IT solutions onboard ships. The first is compliance. Companies need systems in place to man-age information in order to demonstrate compliance thatis related to the performance and safety of their vessels, as well as the growing number of new regulatory re- quirements that are coming into effect. Efficiency is also a key factor. In a time where companies need to remain competitive, owners and operators are looking for ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs. An integrated software solution such as NS5 Enterprise provides Sen- ior Management, as well as crew members? access to real-time business data that is specific to their job func- tions, allowing for improved planning and decision mak- ing. Bjoern, Intellocorp Economy is by far the biggest driver for utilizing software solutions onboard ships. The shipping industry is lacking when it comes to implementbusiness intelligence software that helps control and monitor specific cost areas and the executives are real- izing that they need more advanced software solutions to be a market leader. In your estimation, what has been the biggest driving force which has served to stall the integration of IT solu- tions onboard ships.Galatas, MarineCFOWe still see a ton of skepticism about software and its place in the marine environment. Companies still are operating ?the way they always have? and do not yet fully appreciate the benefits of a properly constructed and implemented software solu- tion. The solutions available for marine companies these days are as good as for any industry and offer the ability for dramatic efficiency gains if used appropri- ately. Goldberg, MLS Most of the impediments to the inte-gration of technology are the same in the maritime in-dustry as they are in other industries: cost, culture, change management and so on. However, there is one impediment to the adoption of learning technologies inthe maritime industry which sets the industry apart. That is the lack of reliable bandwidth on board. This has meant that the learning technologies which have im- proved learning effectiveness and measurement in pretty much every other industry world-wide, are slow to take hold in the maritime industry by vessel operators. For- tunately the tide is turning. First, our friends in the satel-lite communication industry are making hugeprogressive strides in cost, bandwidth and reliability. Second, companies such as ours are working hard to make these learning technologies available to the mar- itime industry even now, while on-board internet re- mains an issue for many. Bjoern, Intellocorp I think the reason why companies are not implementing a state-of-the-art software solu- tion is that they are not 100% sure of the benefit they will gain or simply doesn't understand how to utilize this technology another thing is the initial investment that for most enterprise software is extremely costly and it is difficult to find budget for investments that size when the economy is struggling as it is, that is one of the rea-sons to why we at Intellocorp decided to make our so- lutions subscription based the eliminates the high initialinvestment. How are you investing today in your products? Soncini, SpecTec We continue to develop AMOS Web Interfaces, and our AMOS-IS (Integrity Solution), with large modules dedicated to Business Intelligence, KPIs and Remote Monitoring. Being by far the largest IT company in shipping, we get many requests from our customers to develop more and more Management tools, which allow total control on all vessels performances. This is the area where we will put a lot of efforts in the next two years. Carbone, ShipDecisionWe are expanding our off-line reporting module system to bring new functionality both on-board the vessels and for the vessel operators ashore. And, all the while, without requiring the installation ofany software on-board the vessels. We believe that this ?simplification? to the on-board IT footprint is a positive element for those tasked with managing the IT resources of vessels. DeBruyne, EdocThe key thing we are investing in now is the move towards tablet technology. What we see is a new wave of hardware technology coming that is going to make life onboard the vessels that much easier. March 2012 www.marinelink.com 55MR March 12 # 7 (50-55):MR Template 3/2/2012 3:48 PM Page 55