Author: Peggy Smedley
Many industries are facing new challenges amid a worker shortage, changing economic conditions, rising fuel costs, and the need for sustainability. Perhaps there is no greater place for this than the aviation and airline industry. These industries have also been grappling to meet increased customer demand with the emergence of innovation. This is a recent conversation I had Julie Shainock, global managing director for travel, transport logistics, and hospitality, Microsoft. Let’s take a moment to explore a few of the hurdles and opportunities that this industry faces. (I would also be remiss if we did not note the Israel-Hamas war…
Huw Roberts, CEO, Graphisoft, began his career more than three decades ago as an architect working on projects including private homes, restaurants, healthcare, and sports facilities. He knows firsthand what it means to learn and train on the job with other great architects—and he provides some great insights about what it will mean to train and inspire today’s next generation of young workers, all while leveraging the latest technologies and BIM (building information modeling). “I think back to when I was an intern to become an architect. I learned by osmosis and by working with the old guy who smoked…
Sustainability is top of mind for many these days, but what about resiliency? How does it factor into what we are doing in our own homes and even in our own communities? A new framework just might change how we move forward in the days ahead. In late September, the White House Climate Policy Office hosted the Summit on Building Climate Resilient Communities and as a result the unveiling of the new National Climate Resilience Framework, which aims to build more resilient communities—particularly as severe weather events are on the rise. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information with…
Edge computing is still emerging in manufacturing—but where are we right now, as I write this, and where are we headed? A new report looks to answer these very questions, explaining how edge computing is changing manufacturing to solve operational issues and reduce costs. Now that’s the tricky part when you consider manufacturing is changing faster than we can even say smart manufacturing. AT&T recently released its 2023 AT&T Cybersecurity Insights Report: Focus on Manufacturing. One of the key takeaways reveals that there are critical elements needed to deliver both secure and effective edge solutions. After covering this space for…
How is our infrastructure fairing following the IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) passage in late 2021? The American Road & Transportation Builders Assn., digs in and provides some interesting data, specifically on the state of bridges. Perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at where we are and what we need to do to build a better and more resilient infrastructure future, together. The association says one in three U.S. bridges needs repair or replacement. Yikes. More than 220,000 spans need repair, including 76,600 bridges that should be replaced. Placed end-to-end, these structures span more than 6,100 miles—and…
Many homes across the country have solar panels on their roofs, powering their homes through the rays of the sun, but could solar come to other areas of our world, like our roadways, powering our towns on a grander scale? Roughly a decade ago, there was quite a bit of talk about addressing the energy crisis with solar roadways. The concept is a good one: put panels in the road to produce electricity while also heating the roads to melt the snow and ice. As a longtime Chicagoan, I could appreciate this concept. The University of Minnesota Institute on the…
The power and utilities industries face countless challenges: the transition to renewable energy, aging infrastructure, cybersecurity, regulations, resilience, storage, decentralization, and the aging workforce, just to name a few. But with the right combination of technology and strategies businesses can face these hurdles head on. Let’s explore just a few in more depth today. The Energy Transition Perhaps one of the biggest is this transition to renewable energy. Laurent Boinot, senior digital architect, worldwide power & utility sector, Microsoft, recently told me on The Peggy Smedley Show that all industries are having to adapt in terms of sustainability and what…
I recently had an opportunity to spend a few days in Chicago at Procore Groundbreak 2023—and while the product announcements certainly hit the mark in terms of meeting the needs of today’s contractors—it was the conversations around workers and culture that had the greatest impact. And to be candid is what the writers, influencers, and attendees are still talking about will continue to talk up in the days to come. Tooey Courtemanche, founder and CEO of Procore, kicked off the show saying everyone in the audience had an obligation to take on the challenge to transform the construction industry, saying…
EVs (electric vehicles) are driving onto the scene in many areas of the world, offering greater opportunities for drivers and communities to save money in the long run and to contribute to a healthier living environment for all. Growth is imminent too, with the share of electric cars in total sales more than tripled in three years from about 4% in 2020 to remarkable 14% in 2022. The IEA expects to see 14 million in sales by the end of 2023, representing a 35% year-on-year increase. As a result, electric cars could account for 18% of total car sales across…
If we want to be honest about what is coming next, AI (artificial intelligence) will impact nearly every vertical market, okay every market, every workload. In fact, Gartner places generative AI on the peak of inflated expectations on the 2023 hype cycle for emerging technologies, anticipating it will reach transformational benefit within two-to-five years. From the rate of change at this point, I think that gap is too wide. I see innovation even sooner. But there is more to consider. It’s not just AI. Now, we need to envision how edge, cloud, IoT (Internet of Thing), digital twin, digital transformation,…