How 1 Text Message Changed the World (and what we can learn)

On December 3rd, 1992, Neil Papworth sent the world’s very first text message.

Few would have expected it at the time, but that first message of “Merry Christmas” would be the beginning of a worldwide phenomenon.

But it didn’t happen overnight.

It took many years before SMS reached widespread adoption.

Devices needed to change to allow for easier text input, mobile networks had to allow people to send texts between networks, and users had to adjust to texting.

It was slow going, but by 2010, a reported 193,000 SMS messages were sent every second.

Such is the pace of innovation — progress is slow, until it isn’t.

With Christmas just around the corner, I can’t help but wonder where we are in our own digital adoption curve in shipping.

So, with my Christmas sweater on, a mulled wine in hand, and a winter chill outside, what better time than now to see how the journey is going?

Finding traction

The other day, a friend shared a story with me.

He drives slowly up a snowy mountain road and the wheels struggle to grip the surface. Up ahead, a car approaches in the opposite direction. The road is narrow so he pulls to the side. They share a wave as the car passes, then he takes his foot off the brake, presses the accelerator and… nothing.

The wheels spin, but the car doesn’t move. The power goes to the wheels, and they spin like mad, but the car goes nowhere.

Without traction, there is no progress.

I share this story because it’s reminiscent of the adoption curve.

With SMS and in our own digitalisation journey, at times it can feel like you’re spinning your wheels, and going nowhere fast until suddenly — traction.

The wheels grip, the vehicle leaps forward, and we’re off with more momentum than ever. Progress is slow, until it isn’t.

Such progress is built on powerful patches of traction. And in 2021, I believe we found one that’s potentially transformative.

Digitising documents

On 28th April 2021, MSC launched the electronic bill of lading (eBL).

For a long time, the shipping industry has been couriering paper bills of lading across the globe. Inefficient, slow and expensive, it’s simply not practical in today’s day and age. But it’s taken a long time to change.

The eBL wheels have been spinning for a long time, but this year we found traction.

Faster, simpler, greener, and more secure, in launching the eBL, we’ve digitised the most important document in shipping.

And it’s working.

Since launch, we’ve processed tens of thousands eBLs with zero errors. Countless documents transferred in moments instead of weeks, a forest of paper saved, and countless dollars saved in couriers.

It’s shown us that the eBL works. As more people see the benefits, adoption will accelerate and the spinning wheels find grip. In other words, we’ve found traction.

But I see the eBL as just the beginning.

If we can digitise the most important document in shipping, what else can we digitise?

How many heavy, complex, paper-based processes could be replaced by digital alternatives, and how much further could we still progress?

The top of my wishlist

As the year comes to a close and we take a much deserved break, I write my wishlist for Santa (by hand for now, next year on the blockchain).

Top of the list (second to a new pair of Ascot shoes, actually), is for more and more in the industry to get excited by the possibilities digitalisation presents us; to accelerate adoption and move us further down this road.

So, I’ll close this piece by asking you — what do you see as the key traction points that will help us move forward? How specifically can we accelerate our progress?

Thank you for all your input and support this year.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, a happy holidays, and a fruitful new year!