January 16, 2019
Keeping up in a fast-changing world
Modern times have spoiled us in many ways. Thanks to industrialization, we live longer and more comfortably, enjoy the freedom of traveling around the globe and can communicate instantly with each other from practically anywhere. We take this new environment for granted, and as consumers, can act quite picky.
This generates a competitive business environment for manufacturers, who we expect to fulfill our needs by delivering high-quality, smart products in a personalized form at a reasonable price when we need them. It leaves manufacturers little margin for error. Only the companies that can most effectively deal with this complexity will survive.
At the same time, our eagerness to consume puts enormous pressure on our environment, especially in combination with continuous population growth and globalization.
This awareness is not new, but we seem to finally realize and agree as an international community that action is required before it is too late and irreparable damage is done to our planet. That is quite a game changer. The current generation will be the first in human history that has to carefully balance any technological advancement with its environmental impact. It will require huge engineering creativity to combine innovation with strict regulatory targets.