WE’RE NOT BIG ON PREDICTIONS. THEY’RE A DICEY
proposition, after all. Look back to see how the pundits did
last year and you’ll find the media landscape littered with predictions that missed the mark—by a lot. But to our mind, this
year is different. Whether fearless or foolish, we’re going to give
it a try.
The year 2017 is now upon us, and it could well be a tipping
point with respect to the disruptive technologies we’ve been
hearing about for years. It will not necessarily be a year marked
by the emergence of new, game-changing technologies. Rather,
it will be a year in which long-talked-about technologies move
from the drawing board to real-world applications. And, yes,
they will be disruptive.
By now, you’re no doubt familiar with the
short list of disruptive technologies: autonomous vehicles, delivery drones, 3-D printing, the Internet of Things (IoT), big data,
robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI). All
have been endlessly tested, piloted, and trialed over the past two to three years. But
it appears the fun is now about to begin in
earnest.
Take autonomous vehicles, for example.
As any Jetsons fan knows, the idea has been
out there for decades. In 2016, however, the
programs, new technologies, and a host of new entrants into
the market.
For instance, just last month, an Apple official confirmed
the company’s intent to develop a self-driving car in a letter to
U.S. regulators. That came on the heels of reports in both the
U.S. and Europe of autonomous trucks making trial deliveries,
the most widely publicized being the mid-October delivery of a
truckload of beer from Fort Collins, Colo., to Colorado Springs.
The two-hour, 120-mile trip was conducted with a “smart”
truck outfitted with sensors, radar, and cameras.
Yes, the truck did have a driver, but largely to monitor the
vehicle’s progress from the sleeper compartment. The driver
reportedly took the wheel as the truck moved onto and off of
the interstate—the first and last mile, if you will.
The test was conducted by self-driving vehicle
specialist Otto in partnership with the giant brewing
company Anheuser-Busch. Otto was acquired late
last summer by Uber, which reportedly plans to run
the company as a separate brand. Otto co-found-er Anthony Levandowski now heads up both the
Otto autonomous trucking program and Uber’s
self-driving taxi service, which itself is expanding.
Just weeks before the now-famous beer run, Uber
launched a pilot for a self-driving car service in
Pittsburgh. Last month, it expanded the pilot to
locations in California.
In mid-October, we learned that all new Tesla
vehicles are being equipped to
operate autonomously, although
that functionality isn’t yet activated on the cars. When the time
comes, turning on the driverless
features will be a simple matter
of a satellite-based download to
the car, according to published
reports. Tesla is considered a
pioneer in this area, but it’s not
alone. The likes of Google and
Ford Motor Co. are already well
down the road to developing
their own driverless vehicles.
Similarly, the drones we’ve
heard so much about for the
past few years took a big step closer to real-world
application last month. On Dec. 7, Amazon completed its first drone delivery in the U.K. As part of
a limited trial, it dropped off an Amazon Fire TV
media player and a bag of popcorn to a nearby residence. According to published reports, it took just
13 minutes from the time the order was placed for
the items to be delivered.
Buckle up. We could be in for quite a ride in 2017.
Group Editorial Director
BY MITCH MAC DONALD, GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR outbound
The year of living disruptively
