Shared Data Services or Sending Messages?
COVID exposed the world's lack of supply chain resilience. To have resilience one needs visibility, and to have visibility one needs data. This presents a challenge in an industry dominated by data silos; that is information systems that struggle to communicate with other information systems.
These data silos exist not only at the organisational level, but also within an organisation, or even within a facility. In the latter case different departments, under the same roof, use humans to exchange data between systems - editing files, printing paper, and inputting data at the keyboard.
I am a huge proponent of data standards (I'm even working on one!). Machines, like people, need a common speech to communicate. Data Standards provide a shared vocabulary usable by multiple parties. When sharing data with another organisation, much needless discussion can be eliminated by use of a preexisting standard - there's no debate or different interpretations of what something means, the standard itself has the final word.
One way to share data is to persuade companies to jointly interact with a third data service. Indeed this is the approach taken by Freight Logistics Optimization Works ("FLOW"), and seems to be bearing fruit. The companies involved would struggle to even have the conversation of coordinating a third party platform between them. But with an actual, neutral third party they all communicate with - the US Federal Government - they can all be brought to the table.
