Facing the New Technology Landscape in the Maritime Domain: Knowledge Mobilisation, Networks and Management in Human-Machine Collaboration

Abstract

Rapid development in artificial intelligence and big data analytic applications have had a significant impact on knowledge mobilisation across industries including the shipping domain. This paper uses the practice of energy efficiency onboard ships as a case study to discuss how knowledge mobilisation should address this context change and uncovers how existing knowledge networks in the shipping industry would evolve in this emerging data-driven ecology. From a systems perspective, it suggests hallmarks associated with the knowledge mobilisation processes in the new technology landscape. This paper shapes a discussion intended to derive design and management implications of the system infrastructure contributing to a safe, efficient and sustainable shipping business model and provide insights on knowledge adaption in the emerging human-machine collaboration context.

Towards a Pluralistic Epistemology: Understanding Human-Technology Interactions in Shipping from Psychological, Sociological and Ecological Perspectives

“…The shipping industry is at full speed towards full autonomy and high degree of digitalisation [187]. MUNIN is a European Union project that examines the feasibility of autonomous unmanned vessels and their automation governance from shore-based facilities during intercontinental deep-sea voyages [188].…”

“…Employing technologies to facilitate knowledge mobilisation and social interaction is a key aspect of interaction design in complex sociotechnical systems [132], which has not been addressed that much in maritime human factors research or industrial development. Another article based on the same energy efficiency project [187] has extensively discussed learning and knowledge mobilisation in maritime activities and its connections to future maritime development. The social-cultural perspective can enable us to conceptualise knowledge with a new perspective, i.e., "the result of everyday interaction" [213], in contrast with the traditional view of treating knowledge as merely an object.…”

Managing unruly technologies in the engine control room: from problem patching to an architectural thinking and standardization

“…Confronted with an evolving maritime sociotechnical system, the system design methodology in the shipping domain does not seem to advance with time to accommodate the contextual change (Man et al 2019). Recent research points out that design work usually lacks a profound understanding of the type of work that is performed in the ECR (Lundh 2014).…”

The potential mental health effects of remote control in an autonomous maritime world

“…It has been shown that significant technological advancements are becoming a critical aspect of situational awareness. For example, in recent years, industrial robots in manufacturing have evolved to the point where they have changed the relationship between man and machine to become more reciprocal (Man, Lundh, and MacKinnon 2019). In the maritime industry, over the years, efficiency, safety, and environmental factors have similarly been addressed and reinforced by state-of-the-art technologies.…”