Wilcox: Detail Key to Projects

BREAKBULK MIDDLE EAST 2019 COVERAGE – When it comes to local knowledge, “the devil’s in the detail.” That was one of the messages from Sicuro Group Founding Partner and CEO Scott Wilcox at Breakbulk Middle East 2019.

In an interview at the UAE event, Wilcox said that when firms take on projects with a “40,000-feet view,” that really has the potential to cause delay.

Timings of projects can dramatically alter “unless you’re versed, or at least aware, in the fact that a country is not just there to facilitate you and the reconstruction effort in these countries,” he added.

Wilcox’s organization, a telecommunications group of companies, is headquartered in Dubai in the UAE. He explained that having a Dubai base ensures a constant project connection.

“Rather than using a long screwdriver from Washington D.C. or London to try and wind a nut here, we took Europeans and Americans and put them in Dubai so that there was a continuous link all the way through to make things happen,” he noted.

Speaking about technology, Wilcox commented that people are mistakenly calling technologies “artificial intelligence,” when what they really possess is “data and a good memory.”

He said: “One of the big things with data is people always try and manipulate it to their own need, but if you have big data, you’re able to use that for project-planning purposes.”

Logisticians and forwarders can see how holidays and other catalysts impact operations, he explained. “How long does parliament take, historically, to get announced post-elections?” he gave as an example. “What were the lead-ups to the last two elections like? We’re using that information for trafficability and for planning.”

Wilcox also discussed the role of geopolitics in the planning of projects, using the example of Iran: “People and projects were warming to Iran and then Trump came in flipped everything on its head. Companies found themselves in a real predicament because they were relying on local suppliers and they couldn’t do the necessary due diligence.”