Mark Pocklington

A career in international shipping and merchandising since 1978. Twelve years as owner/general manager of enterprises offering transportation services such as ocean container shipping, warehousing, and freight forwarding; ten years as a global merchandiser of livestock feed; five foreign assignments supervising business development projects. More than a decade of exposure to commercial challenges in the Asia-Pacific region with official recognition of success opening markets for Canadian and American agricultural products in South Korea.

My interest in data banks and traceability goes back in time to 1982; as an owner of an international shipping company based in Montreal I had a commercial incentive to pioneer the development of the nation's first public access, container shipping data base. The project was also a chance to test Bell Canada's experimental displayphone featuring an 8" display screen, pop-out keyboard, and internal chip memory to enable data communications. Initially, forty of my clients located in major cities across North America were provided with the new phone, and for the first time, could track their shipments on-line, 24/7, by simply dialing a local telephone number.

Although the prime objective of the service was to create an efficient data network for the shipping community needing to track cargo, it soon became apparent that the real benefit was to my customers. The speed and accuracy of the traceability ensured the buyer or consumer checked the status frequently and in effect, connected with my customer who lost no time in promoting self. In fact the bonus was my customer's increased visibility and exposure to markets.

Despite a noble effort that blazed many trails, the project was shelved because of chronic network 'crashing' common to that era. Over the years, private channels evolved into the Internet, software developers created the user-friendly browser, and live data transmission was consigned to the personal computer instead of the telex machine or other phone centered hardware. I still keep one Bell display phone for nostalgia's sake, but its rightful place might be in Canada's Museum of Science and Technology.

Today, it is encouraging to observe that Scoring System, the world's largest provider of on-line record keeping services, can offer electronic traceability with a level of sophistication, efficiency and reliability unfathomable twenty-five years ago. Once again, the real beneficiary may be the producers who can promote themselves by directing traceback inquiries to a website showcasing the farm or organization. Consider Scoring System as a passport to markets and sign-up today.

I am pleased to be associated with this venture and look forward to responding to your inquiries. Please email me at: canada@scoringsystem.com