Attention – data theft!
A joint charter by Fiata and GSF. Digitalisation is the order of the day in logistics too. Without data security its development is at risk, however. Fiata and GSF show how it should be done.
Shippers and freight forwarders don’t always see eye to eye. So when they join forces to highlight developments and reduce risks, then the industry should sit up and listen. Now the Global Shippers Forum (GSF), based in London, and Fiata, headquartered in Geneva, have joined forces to highlight the need to strengthen data security standards in digital supply chains.
Joint declaration on data security
The key concern is to ensure improved data protection and confidentiality standards in digital trade and booking systems. The International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (Fiata) and the Global Shippers Forum (GSF), the most important global organisations of freight forwarders and of shippers, have jointly drawn up an agreed charter for the protection and management of data in international trade operations.
In their newly-published guidelines the organisations have defined the minimum concrete precautions for data security and confidentiality that have emerged from practical business processes in the industry over the past few years.
The organisations’ plea is directed at providers and operators of digital booking and trading platforms, and it has called on them to adopt these guidelines, and additionally include them in their end-user agreements (EUAs). The charter’s recommendations aim to create a trustworthy business environment that is based on a level playing field.
The charter represents a departure into uncharted territory for Fiata and the GSF. It’s been endorsed by members of both organisations, and is considered to be the first declaration of the rights for users of platforms in the international trade and logistics industries.
Securing the transition to digital business
In the ongoing transformation of business life from analogue to digital models, data security is becoming the central issue for the success of the shift. Fiata director general Stéphane Graber underlines his organisation’s commitment to “enabling the transition of trade from analogue to digital, to increase the efficiency and resilience of the world’s supply chains.”
Graber believes that two considerations are central in the overall process. One is “interoperability between platforms,” and at the same time “their credibility among users.” If these factors aren’t guaranteed, then the platforms won’t succeed with their business. Clear and fair rules for data exchange are required.
James Hookham, the secretary general of the GSF, shares the same conviction. He believes that digitalisation offers “enormous savings opportunities and benefits for all parties in the supply chain”. He identified the risks in storing and processing data flows “in terms of loss, leakage and unauthorised use.” He also considers the protection defined in the charter to be the instruments of choice.