Our motto for 2020
T
he year 2019 was an eventful year in many respects. I’m not so fond of the hyped words, but as an organization operating at the heart of new technology, you are confronted with Industry 4.0 every day.
Almost everyone is now familiar with the term Industry 4.0, but still perceive it as a remote prospect. We see that organizations know and recognize Industry 4.0, but do not acknowledge that the change is already taking place under their very noses.
One of the most striking features of all industrial revolutions is that the cycles become shorter and shorter. And we as Made now largely experience that ourselves. If we look at the year 2019, we see how rapidly technology is evolving. It really goes incredibly fast and it is really happening now.
Autonomous driving
A good example of this is autonomous driving. A hot topic too, as December 2019 marked a record sale of the Tesla Model 3. Today we have reached level 4 (out of 6) concerning autonomous driving.
Although level 4 is generally considered to signify complete autonomy, it is actually not. This raises many discussions, but for now, that is of lesser importance. What is important at this time is that at this level, it is still necessary for the driver to intervene in specific situations. In contrast to level 3, the driver has much more time, but in specific and / or complex situations, the driver may have to take control. For this reason, the driver still needs to focus his attention.
Real autonomous driving entails that absolutely no intervention is necessary anymore and therefore the steering wheel is almost superfluous. We have done the necessary research ourselves and talked to specialists regarding this subject. It is such a complex issue with so many factors that it is difficult to determine when 100% autonomous driving will ever really be possible. This is mainly because not only our cars will have to evolve, but also policies, infrastructure and further developments in the field of cognitive robotics. So there is still a long way to go. We occasionally hear specialists claim that 100% autonomous driving may become possible around 2050.
Now let’s assume that it will really be possible to drive a 100% autonomous car by 2050. People and organizations often have the tendency to check out with the thought: “We’ll see by then.” But many people often forget that in those 30 years until 2050, something changes every day. And those changes have a huge impact on our society, the way we work, organizations and the way we provide services. Here we do not even take the factor that we make predictions based on the knowledge and technology that we currently have and know into account. A well-known factor that we as a company must always include in our foresights and plans.
More problems than solutions
If we look back at 2019, we now see that these daily changes follow up ever faster, at an unprecedented rapid pace. We see as a company that in this phase, this entails more problems and challenges than real long-term solutions for departments and businesses. We see that organizations, especially large traditional companies, have enormous difficulties to find the right focus, proposition and therefore cannot ultimately make the required transformation. Organizations now recognize and feel the importance of data, artificial intelligence and a good digital value proposition. But, with all the rapid changes, possibilities and trends, they do not always know how to make the right choices.
To support the latter, we already suffered the consequences of these changes in 2019: Amazon is coming to the Netherlands, the company Blokker, which has had a hard time for years, has booked a loss of 234 million Euros and Hudson’s Bay is suspending its activities in the Netherlands. We have even come across a prediction that Wehkamp will close its online doors in 2020. It can be a seemingly professional clickbait, but keeping all these changes in mind, this should not be taken lightly. We have spoken the former CTO of Wehkamp a few months ago and we are secretly very curious about his vision and reaction to this. Just imagine…
The motto for 2020
To be honest, it is a particularly good time for us, because with the right CTOs, visionary CEOs and the right specialists, you can make great strides nowadays. After all, in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king, right? The motto for 2020 from Made to all organizations is that what used to be fantasy, tomorrow will be reality and if you don’t pay attention, it will be your nightmare. Keep a close eye on trends within your market and be well-informed. Make sure you are ready for the future. If you start off the new year investing in the future, chances are that you will soon be at the Provided that this is your ambition, of course. We are certainly looking forward to the course of 2020 with great concern. We expect an exciting year full of technological progress and organizations that will make a real (social) difference. We do everything to be part of this movement and want to do that together with you.
