WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

WHY IT MATTERS: consumer package goods companies (CPGs) are being hit by digital transformation as we disintermediate the retailers with direct delivery (drop shipping), online distribution and the need to continue to serve traditional retailers with warehouses and stores. Moreover, beyond the supply chain, CPGs have a increased need to know their customer, something that is often difficult to do with retailers blocking access to valuable data. This survey by BCG provides useful categorization of the impact to CPGs, along with some %

Fatal car crash of a Tesla on highway using automated driving mode. The post provides some information about the crash, which appears to be due to a condition that was never programmed into the system (side hit).

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Autonomous vehicles will become more and more popular in the future and this event reminds us of the complexities involved. We are very early in this field and much like aviation there should be formal investigations and corrective actions taken when such crash occur so that all manufacturers can learn from crashes. This calls for an international database of car crashes and there should be mandatory requirements for new self-driving systems to "pass" the exam ie. to ensure they all react correctly to previously seen car crashes and other incidents. 

This thus becomes an opportunity to learn from the global past experience of millions of drivers and billions of kilometers driven in all conditions, across all countries. I am not aware of such a central database but would expect it to become a reality if we want autonomous driving to be a transformation beyond what we have today: each driver learning for themselve.