Losing our brains with disruptive technologies (XVII): BONUS! Strategic reflection about the future of logistics.
We welcome the month of March with appreciation and gratitude. This month may be the beginning of Spring in many countries, which is enough reason to be smiling. Particularly for those who are fighting and putting all their efforts to stop the propagation of the COVID-19 virus. I have been granted the possibility to write for the El Diario de Hoy, at the editorials section on the weekends. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about the vulnerability of the world for plagues as the Coronavirus. With the globalization of our manufacturing, logistics and every single industry we can think of, the expansion and scale of our positive ventures is the same one than the negative issues. The immeasurable and limitless good and the vast defective and dangerous wrongs are always tied together, now at a global level, and it is our responsibility to see it this way from now and then. The Coronavirus is just one tiny example, a disease that is here to remind us of such nature of our global presence.
Before proceeding with the cleanse-cleaning activities, and how the new disruptive NAIQI technologies will impact them for our future, I would like to share a bonus article loaded with strategic reflections in relation to the transportation industries. In my last publication, I was being forced to be honest in relation to how do we need to weave our destiny when it comes to transportation systems. Although there are outstanding considerations that I am obliged to share:
- We are now living in a global internet world. Whatever happens on one side of the planet affects the other side. With the Internet and a Smartphone, we can read whatever anyone is doing, publishing or sharing globally. With English as a global language, we can be informed in a matter of seconds of whatever we wish to know, regardless if these are fake news or not. Social media platforms and Google are used by individuals to share data, knowledge, stories or whatever you wish to imagine.
Source: We are social
2. The retail industry has been shaken at its roots. With e-commerce at its peak, any entrepreneur and company on earth can display its products and services online, and this trend started “petit a petit” around 20 years ago. The reason why the logistics industry has flourished is so simple. People need transportation systems to deliver and receive their goods and merchandises from door to door. The fact that Amazon is one of the top companies in the world is here to show us that the global internet-eCommerce network won´t vanish. The growth projections are simply astonishing for the following years. Last year the total amount of retail sales e-commerce was US$3,535 billion USD.
Source: Statista.com
3. The huge amount of the selling cake is projected to be “online” and it will require transportation. Emarketer.com has provided a hint of where are we going through the following graphs. But I will explain to you simply: Last year Retail-e-commerce sales were around 15% of the total retail sales worldwide. By the year 2023, it will double, or it will grow to 30% of the “total global sales cake”.
4. In such a changing retail industry context, logistics (maritime-terrestrial-air) requires a transformation mindset and sous vide state when it comes to disruptive technologies. Every time that the world is being shaken at its roots, it is important to pause and analyze better. Why? Because the more globally connected we are, and by going in one direction exclusively (without balance), the more critical it is for us to stop, pause, put ourselves in a “sous vide state” and fix all the list of issues associated with the risks that may cause destruction of the model. Issues to be considered at this time are cyber-security, envy, ideological wars, territorial conflicts, religious battles, lack of education in developing countries, lack of integration of transportation systems, loss of privacy, scarcity-poverty, absence of transportation infrastructure for the next 500 years, lack of transparent regulation and standardization of transit procedures between countries, non-ethical uses of logistics for narcotraffic, forced migrations technological internet saturation, epidemic risks (as the Coronavirus), etc. If the transportation systems players (those I mentioned previously on my last post) do not try to fix all these issues, before proceeding further, the global e-commerce business model will inevitably crumble and collapse, sooner or later.
5. Sous Vide is required in transportation and logistics meanwhile the world inequality is not solved. All our disruptive innovations beyond NAIQI (Nanotech, artificial intelligence, Quantum processing, and the Internet), require a strategic cognitive map with solutions to all the 18 contexts risks in place. Without considering the current world vulnerabilities, our beautiful planet can´t afford another tragedy like the World Trade Center 9-11 or theMiddle-east wars or sabotage pirate attacks similar to the Captain Philip movie situations.
6. The most crucial issue at the moment is to fight the multidimensional poverty. The University of Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative designed an indicator that goes beyond the typical extreme poverty benchmark. It includes 3 dimensions and 10 indicators using the following variables.
The Multidimensional Poverty indicators include the following variables. Source: https://ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index/databank/global-comparisons/
If you look at the following global multidimensional poverty map, it is obvious that we have certain priorities to perform before continuing the disruptive technologies roller coaster.
7. Timing is everything. I have told you many times, that our world has difficult issues to solve. In the context of “blue harmony” and peace, I am sure many of our projections with disruptive tech will be remarkably valid, even though I am convinced that many of them are hurting our brains and our capacity to think properly. But we do not live in a world of “peace”, and to roll out inventions that will inevitably be used to hurt us in the future, is extremely dangerous. Who cares if we have to wait for another 100 years, to implement our desire to go to other galaxies, or to use flying taxis or vehicles or to see all the IATA plans for 2050 in place. All our wonderful tech inventions in transportation are as gorgeous as anything you could imagine. But if half of the world is living in multidimensional poverty, including developed countries, please, we need to fix these issues first. In a global dimension, we also necessitate listening to the timing context as the most crucial of all. We will need to wait to fix our world first. Just remember that through our 6000 years of history, envy and inequality has been the cause of shameful crimes and disasters. Let´s not provoke them more with disruptions that will increase the gap between the rich and the poor at the global level. It is important to provide integral education to tackle greed, envy, and jealousy; and proper jobs for decent means of living to attack poverty to all who live in misery.
This is all for today. I wish you a beautiful beginning of the week. Expect more from me with the cleaning-cleansing activities during this week.
Blessings from El Salvador, the only country on earth with the name of our savior divine Jesus Christ of the world. Thanks. 
Source references utilized to compose this article:
https://ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index/databank/global-comparisons/
https://www.emarketer.com/content/global-ecommerce-2019
Disclaimer: Illustrations in Watercolor are painted by Eleonora Escalante. Other types of illustrations or videos (which are not mine) are used for educational purposes ONLY. Nevertheless, the majority of the pictures, images or videos shown on this blog are not mine. I do not own any of the lovely photos or images posted unless otherwise stated.
Thank you for reading to me.
Eleonora Escalante Strategy 