Page 7 - Linkline Yearbook 2018

Welcome from the President
Dear Members,
It is a privilege and a great honour to take over as your President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Ireland. For those of you who do not know me, my background for the last twenty-four years is in Shipping and related Transport Law. I am something of a change for the Institute in terms of choice of president: a lawyer but one whose expertise is in maritime law and transport law.
Change is a concept constantly debated. Is it a good thing... is it a bad thing? One of life’s constants however is change and, in the insightful words of Charles Darwin; “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
The Logistic, Transport and Supply Chain sectors are of course always in a constant state of ux. It is forever evolving. It matters not whether you are in the maritime sector, involved in passenger or goods transportation, aviation, rail transport or freight forwarding, we need to change and adapt if we are to stay in business and remain relevant. Change impacts us constantly and staying up to date with the latest trends in logistics and transport is not a choice, it is critical. Evolution of the industry is inevitable as we grapple increasingly with being in an energy constrained low-carbon world, as our customers are increasingly concerned with the social, economic and environmental impact of products and transport, as technology develops faster than you can blink and ever increasing regulatory compliance continues to be one of the greatest challenges to us all to manage.
Change of course is a challenge and we are currently facing one of the biggest challenges and changes in recent political and economic history. Hurtling down the tracks at us is Brexit. Whilst we may be no wiser than we were in June 2016 as to how Brexit will be achieved, there is one certainty: Brexit was not just something that the United Kingdom electorate voted upon to change the UK, as the result will have signi cant impacts elsewhere. It will have a huge impact on the European logistics and supply chain and the wider global economy. The Institute has published a policy statement on ‘The Implications of Brexit for the Movement of Goods’ (available in the Policy Section of our website), and if you have not yet had chance to review the statement, I thoroughly recommend you do. The statement provides in my view one of the most comprehensive and practical guides published to date as to how we as an industry should consider planning for this change. The time for debating the merits of Brexit has long passed. Like it or not, we are faced with this signi cant change and timely planning by the industry will ensure, in the same way we have faced other changes, that we are equipped to meet the challenge.
Over the last number of years, the Institute has itself undergone signi cant change to ensure that into the future it is the rst choice for our profession. As we continue to promote the highest level of professionalism in the logistics, transport and supply chain as a membership organisation we are very cognisant of the fact that we have to continue to evolve to meet the needs of our stakeholders and members. As I mentioned at the recent graduation ceremony of our diploma students, we are all on a journey as our careers and our industry continue to evolve and to change. As an industry, if we are to successfully embrace change, we must come together, we must share ideas and we must continue to network. I look forward to working alongside you and meeting you at CILT events over the next few years.
To end on a quote from a sage politician: “To improve is to change: to be perfect is to change often.”
Helen Noble
CILT Ireland President
The CharTered InsTITuTe of LogIsTICs & TransporT 7
PRESDENT’S WELCOME