# Discovering Trends in the Digitalization of Shipping:
## 5 Conclusions  
This paper aimed to identify key trends and detect emerging weak signals in the field of digitalization in shipping by analyzing a collection of industry-related presentations in PDF format. The collection of documents consisted of over 500 conference presentations, presentations performed by industry executives and operators. Our research approach integrated a variety of tools and technologies to accomplish these objectives. These tools included optical character recognition for converting the pdf content to machine-readable text. For topic definition and keyword generation, bidirectional encoder representations from transformers were used. By utilizing Spacy cosine similarity, Scikit-learn and Jaccard similarity guided topic modeling was performed, thereby enhancing the interpretability of the results. Theil-Sen regressions were used to perform the trend analysis, whilst the degree-of-diffusion (DoD) metrics were used for the weak signal detection. The results of the paper indicate that in terms of trends, smart ports and supply chain management experienced a significant uptick in interest especially in 2020. This indicates a heightened focus on enhancing efficiency and digitalization within port operations and supply chains. The trend therefore highlights an industry that is moving towards more smart technology in the optimizing of supply chain management. Overall, there is consistent interest in the digitalization of maritime operations and cybersecurity. Again, this points towards a trend in the industry that acknowledges the critical importance of securing digital infrastructures as part of the broader digital transformation efforts. Strikingly, the interest in Supply chain management was present in the beginning years but waned over time. The later might be indicative of these technological developments being in the so-called slope of disillusionment often found on the technology life cycles, as presented by some consultancy companies. Further research is needed to establish the current state of the art in autonomous shipping. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c} \hline \hline
**Group** & **Topics per Group** \\ \hline Technology and & Global Xpress Satellite Network, Web sourcing, Broadband \\ Connectivity: & offshore communication, VSAT Capabilities, Mini VSAT \\  & Broadband, KVH antennas, Bandwidth management \\ \hline Cybersecurity and Data & Cybersecurity, Data leaks and contamination, electronic learning, \\ Management: & Information recorded in Planned Maintenance System databases. \\ \hline Environmental & Greenhouse gas, Emissions reduction, Energy Efficiency Design \\ Sustainability: & Index (EEDI) to be calculated, Fuel efficiency. \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Maritime Operations and  Management:} & Overcoming software complexity, ECDIS (Electronic Chart \\  & Display and Information System), Ship Energy Efficiency \\ \cline{1-1}  & Management Plan, Voyage data recording, Supply Chain \\ \cline{1-1} Management: & management, ERP Projects, Performance KPI Standardization, \\ \cline{1-1}  & Crew welfare, Crew communication, Crew cash and Ship money, \\ \cline{1-1}  & Ship-side data management, Ship management processes. \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Learning and Development:} & E-learning, Computer-based learning onboard, Regulatory \\ \cline{1-1}  & Compliance and Safety: Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) to \\ \cline{1-1}  & be calculated, Future of navigation, IMO e-navigation regulation. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 14: Topic groups. Within topics, the keyword analysis over time reveals a shifting focus from general technology and infrastructure (service, port, system) towards more specific areas like cybersecurity (cyber, cybersecurity, risk management) and emerging technologies (satellite, blockchain). This shift indicates an evolving industry narrative from foundational technological adoption towards addressing specific challenges and opportunities presented by digitalization.