iSHARE data-sharing available as of today.
As of today, all organisations active in the logistics sector can make use of iSHARE. This uniform set of agreements or scheme, which enables everyone in the sector to share logistics data with everyone else – including with partners further upstream or downstream in the chain – in a simple and controlled way, was launched March 29 2018 during the annual conference of the Dutch Top Sector Logistics.
Over the past year, dozens of public and private-sector partners within the transport and logistics sector have worked together on the development of the uniform set of agreements, testing the beta version in practice and fine-tuning the scheme. The first live transactions based on the iSHARE scheme were ready to be presented to the industry by the end of last year.
“It was a conscious decision to launch iSHARE during the annual conference,” says Jan Bert Schutrops, President of Vopak in the Netherlands and Chair of the steering committee of the Dutch Neutral Logistics Information Platform (NLIP). “iSHARE is a perfect fit with the ‘Benefits of Sustainability’ theme. This uniform set of agreements for identity and access management enables logistics companies to utilise one another’s transport capacities more easily, more quickly and more efficiently, even if they have never done business together before. If everyone joins the iSHARE scheme, it will not only give the sector a huge boost, but it will also benefit the environment.”
First launching customers
The first organisations who are joining iSHARE as launching customers are seizing the opportunities iSHARE offers in terms of even faster and smarter chain collaboration and further process optimization. They are the first to work in line with the scheme’s uniform legal, operational, functional and technical agreements and are making the necessary technical adaptations to their software.
Key feature: delegation of rights
Among other things, the launching customers will be using one of the most important features of the scheme, namely the delegation of rights. By delegating the right to view data to an existing partner, who subsequently delegates the same right to a partner of their own, users can share data with new and previously unknown partners. iSHARE gives users the certainty that data is only shared with reliable parties, while also ensuring they retain control over their own data at all times.
“This marks another important step in the iSHARE project; we have delivered a cornerstone for the trust-based network within which data can be shared without obstacles,” comments Michiel Haarman, Programme Manager at NLIP. “There is still a lot of work to be done, but the first organisations are now really starting to use iSHARE. They can see its benefits for their own business, for the sector as a whole and for the environment. I expect they will serve as an example and as inspiration for others.”
Organisations that are interested in using iSHARE follow a step-by-step implementation plan.