Seafair's CEO, Agapitos Diakogiannis, attended the SMM Hamburg Fair 2022 and here are his thoughts, learnings, and favorite parts about the event this year:
The maritime industry is niche and it's important to get connected with everyone working in it. SMM Hamburg has been a great opportunity to meet old friends and make some new ones. It allowed key decision makers and game changers to convene and talk about the future of the seas. In one conference, the shipping industry focused on how to use digital services to improve efficiency & effectiveness.
The industry has reached a point where digital transformation is progressing faster in the industry - and the number of resources, ERPs, services, and more that are being pioneered by these newer companies in the SMM Hamburg Fair proves that. It now changes the question for shipping companies from "will we digitize processes?" to "what is going to be the best option to digitize processes?"
The convention also highlighted the shift from old times when digital players offered a range of various digital solutions, products, and services. Instead, these digital-first companies are choosing to focus on a niche to provide an unmatched user experience and further boost the ROI for their clients.
This new era of verticalized software is expanding everywhere in shipping - from disbursement accounts & maintenance to seafarer crew changes, payments, and obviously manning.
It's been great interacting with our friends from Harbor Lab, Kadmos, Crosslink, Flagship Founders, Innoport, Konigs Digital... and so much more (sorry we missed some of you guys!). It's absolutely great to be part of such a vibrant and disruptive ecosystem, and Seafair is happy to be onboard the same ship as these trailblazers!