This year, we have teamed up with Seatrade Cruise to produce a series of podcasts on technology in cruise. Tech Talks is hosted by Ian Richardson, our CEO and Co-Founder. Each episode features Q&A sessions with tech leaders and innovators, all of whom are working to create solutions that will benefit the cruise industry. Here we focus upon episode 2, a conversation with theICEway’s David Tibbles about STC Global 2023 and a key feature of the show: The Innovation Tech Zone.
Read our summary of Tech Talks episode 1: Minimising food waste at sea, with Power Knot.
David joined theICEway to focus upon developing products for the cruise industry. Key requirements were innovation and addressing existing issues. It was not long before he had his first product: tzChromar. Based upon an existing solution created by Conor Byrne, our co-founder, tzChromar was designed to tackle time zone issues at sea. David and he agreed that this was exactly the right project to rekindle and then take forwards. Working as Product Manager, the pair worked with a team of developers to evolve the solution. They also collaborated with cruise industry insiders to craft tzChromar into a product fit for purpose.
David was also key in the creation of a new feature for Seatrade Cruise Global 2022: The Interactive Tech Zone. This engaging area of the show floor allowed partners including Sourcetoad, Lufthansa Industry Solutions and Kilo to showcase exciting tech. Attendees were able to try out VR headsets, emotion recognition technology and more.
Tech Talks episode 2 saw David and Ian Richardson talking about the 2023 version of the tech zone. At the time of recording, the zone’s second iteration was all set to reveal new additions, including robots. The pair also discussed Seatrade Cruise Global in general, which promised much – including a full day of programming dedicated to tech innovations.
Listen to Tech Talks episode 2: The Innovation Tech Zone.
Ian Richardson (IR): “… What were you most proud of last year?”
David Tibbles (DT): “We had about 4 or 5 suppliers in the zone, it was great to get them in one place. Everyone was really helpful and it proved that even if there were any competing technologies, everyone was… singing from the same hymn sheet.”
IR: “Last year… we had Sourcetoad… [who had] the prototyping workshops… what kind of things [were] developed?”
DT: “We probably had around 100 ideas prior to Seatrade, so from that [Sourcetoad] whittled that down to… 5. There were some meetings… to go through the ideas… these were all apps… [Sourcetoad then] created… clickable wireframes… it worked really well [and] one of them has gone on to be a full… application.”
IR: “In general, how is your prep going for the event?”
DT: “We’ve prepared as well as we can, we’ve got the 3D modelling from Seatrade so we know what the zone looks like… It’s all gone really well!”
Did you visit the Innovation Tech Zone? Was it your first taste of STC Global or, like us, are you something of a veteran?! We would love to hear from you and of course, if you need any assistance or guidance with IT, we’re here.