Look up-way up: logistics has no borders!
Today’s event “Space-Enabled Solutions for the Future of Logistics”, held at the Italian Space Agency HQ in Rome and organised by ESA, the Italian Coast Guard, and ASI highlighted how space and logistics are deeply connected.
Paola Cossu, CEO of FIT Consulting and Board Member of ALICE, Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe (ETP LOGISTICS), contributed to the session “Logistics Trends and Future Directions”, sharing an important message:
“While enabling technologies like AI, Blockchain, Digital Twins, drive digital transition to net-zero economies, several challenges impede the viability of logistics services scale up.
Limited trust among the supply chain players, all with different priorities and values, leads to hesitancy to collaborate and share resources with their competitors.
Barriers to collaboration are affected by lack of interoperability across digital and physical logistics processes, due to diverse handling tools, communication protocols, and data formats.
High dependency on technologies may limit the inclusiveness of SMEs, constraining their ability to adopt innovations and comply with global standards and regulations. Such challenges bring inefficiencies across the supply chain.
Therefore, businesses are recommended to embrace longer-term strategies with innovative solutions that boost resilience and flexibility, reducing dependency on a single source to mitigate risk. Investing in driven-by-data supply chains that offer visibility, and flexibility to empower businesses and anticipate disruptions adjusting operations rapidly.
But logistics has no boundaries. Satellite-based navigation systems and connectivity services have huge potential transforming transport and logistics industries, offering new capabilities and efficiencies, creating new jobs, attracting investment, and driving digital transition. For example, the future of space exploration is logistics. Every space exploration vehicle, space station/hubs, require efficient supply chain management and in orbit maintenance to scale.
Autonomous vehicles require seamless connectivity achieved by the convergence of satellite communications and terrestrial networks, such as driverless vehicles and warehouse serving last mile delivery with unnamed lockers, as well as certified impact on emission reductions per shipment, reported according to international standards for transparency, improving use of green solutions and supply chain visibility.
Satellite technology also supports the development of charging infrastructure and optimizes the routing of electric vehicles; it helps in finding optimal locations for urban micro-hubs, reducing traffic congestion, and improves efficiency by proximity logistics.
Finally, space-derived data can help real time urban planning decisions related to logistics, such as optimizing road networks and managing curbside, especially if supported by local sensors.
In conclusion, we need to establish suitable and viable conditions for a trustworthy and open ecosystem, enabling innovative solutions, fast tracking impact at scale, promoting a culture of collaboration, inclusiveness, with everyone encouraged and empowered to come forward.
It’s also important to facilitate data exchange and interoperability, by supporting diverse logistics networks, working towards industry-wide adoption of solutions, standards and protocols.
Finally, public-private partnerships and modern governance between space and logistics sectors must be endorsed, leading to the deployment of technologies and services applications for a global benefit and competitiveness of the European market.”
