Italian shipping leader imagines diversification as ferry industry undergoes digital transformation

Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) is one of Italy's leading ferry companies which transport hundreds of thousands of passengers across the Mediterranean and reaches its peak of passengers during the high season.

"This is a business that is ripe for diversification," says Barbara Poli, Chief Information & Technology Officer, GNV. "Traditionally, the shipping business has never been the most dynamic from a technology point of view. We have an opportunity to change that."

Disrupting the Traditional Ferry Industry

Like many other sectors, disruption will be enabled by digital transformation. GNV wants to bring twenty-first century connectivity to the twentieth century ferry experience. High performance Wi-Fi promises to revolutionise passenger services and onboard efficiency. It will also create more versatile, multi-function spaces.

"We must be conscious of competition to our industry and of new service expectations," says Poli. "If other industries are moving faster, our industry risks being left behind."

Navigating a Digital Transformation

GNV's digital future is being built on an Aruba Edge Services Platform (ESP). The plan is to then extend connectivity to all 19 ships in the GNV fleet, operating between Italy and Albania, France, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia.

The engagement is for the long term, though the origins stem from a response to a short-term emergency.

"This collaboration would not have been possible without Aruba's work in early 2020," Poli explains. "With the arrival of Covid-19 we had to quickly refit a ship in Genoa, converting it into a hospital ship."

Converting a Ferry into a Hospital in Less Than Ten Days

The GNV Splendid was converted to provide additional hospital space and medical treatment for Covid patients in the city. It was critical to ensure pervasive, secure and permanent communication between doctors and care teams on board the ship, who were isolated for long periods of time, and support on shore.

The onboard Aruba network consisted of 70 access points, Aruba access switches and more than four kilometers of cable, providing Wi-Fi 6 coverage for healthcare workers and patients across the various decks of the ship. The infrastructure was monitored and managed remotely via Aruba AirWave.

"The solution was deployed within few days and demonstrated what was possible for the ship and the network," says Poli. "That's when we started to imagine our ships as more than simply passenger ferries."

The Aruba architecture offered the best performance among a large number of connected devices including doctors' laptops and tablets, medical devices and mobile phones. The team also planned and optimised the coverage across a challenging site, with a large metal structure across multiple decks and watertight compartments.

Seizing an Opportunity to Diversify the Business

The GNV business of the future may be split into three commercial lines: improve customer experience and services for passenger ferries, enter in new markets and provide short-term moored facilities for local authorities as rescue ships to house and process refugees coming across the Mediterranean. More than 34,000 refugees arrived in Italy by sea in 2020.

Poli says there is no better time to think differently: "Covid has impacted all industries but few more so than tourism. Where the general economy is down 10%, tourism is down 50%. The easiest thing to do would have been to sit and wait things out but that is exactly the opposite of what was needed. Now is the time to invest in our future."

Flexibility will be key to this diversification. It will also hinge on GNV's ability to detect different network users, to collect and then act upon meaningful data and to protect operational security.

"Aruba is about much more than connectivity, it is also about data," says Poli.

Improving the Onboard Experience and Opening New Revenue Opportunities

The ferry industry is extremely price sensitive, says Poli. GNV wants to keep ticket prices low through operational efficiency but also add new revenue opportunities through a host of experiential services to make crossings more enjoyable.

It is looking to develop onboard media services, where passengers can access a library of films, music and TV. Passengers can book a restaurant table or order food to be delivered to their cabin or seat.

The simplicity of managing secure access to the Aruba network means GNV can work with new onboard partners to create new digital services. It could lease space onboard for new service providers, from restaurants and shops to gaming pods, all connected to the network. And, with richer data on passengers, there are also marketing opportunities with tourism service providers.

"We can let passengers know of services at their destination, of the latest arrival times or an online map of the ship," says Poli. "Investment of this kind could be seen as an opportunity. We can create new sustainable business models."

Driving Continuous Operational Efficiencies

For the passenger ferries, operational efficiency will come through a multitude of ways, from digital ticketing to environmental controls to space management. GNV will have a clearer understanding of which parts of the ship are being used, and when.

There will be more data on which to uncover fresh insight. GNV will have a clearer understanding of passenger demographics, of under-utilised services and peak periods, always in full compliance with the privacy laws.

"The ferry business requires constant synchronisation," says Poli, "with port authorities, with refuelling stops, with immigration. We need an IP infrastructure to manage this more efficiently."

Responding to the Refugee Crisis

The speed of deployment and modular aspect to the Aruba approach mean GNV can quickly convert ships for different usages. Covid may be the exception but it will be possible for GNV to supply ships to local authorities to cover seasonal shortfalls in healthcare or emergency accommodation.

The Aruba network means new users and usage and can be managed securely. Its open architecture means it can be integrated with a range of third-party applications. Data can be shared securely with local authorities or regulators.

To ensure up-to-date records of arrivals and departures, a digital workflow is ideal. Digital also helps ship-to-shore communication. All of this can be managed on the Aruba architecture.

"Our goal is to create a control tower to monitor all our ships in real-time, wherever they are, whatever their purpose," says Poli. "Our new network architecture enables us to automate and streamline many of our processes, processes that have been manual for years. That is transformational."