ICS rolls out new online initiatives

TRAINING ORGANISATIONS worldwide are increasingly harnessing technology to address the skills dearth against a background of limited resources. This was in strong evidence at last week’s Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers annual international education seminar in London attended by 56 delegates from around the world. Continued improvement of its Coracle Online offering, which is already providing education podcasts covering the ICS Tutorship Courses, is on the cards for the year ahead along with the introduction of an online membership tool – www.argo0.com – aimed at creating a shipping network similar to the many social online networks like FaceBook. “If the Institute can further successfully involve all its students in the shipping podcasts and achieve shared information on Argo0, we will have eliminated the looming training resource shortage, as well as increased the worldwide skills pool,” ICS education officer Megan Harris, who attended the event, told FTW. Another technological breakthrough coming soon will be the introduction of shipping podcasts where the internet will be used to provide a live commentary on freight rates, bunker prices, chartering market reports and the like.