Cloud, Autonomous Vehicles & Renewables: Changing for Good
You’re lucky. After a 2600 year wait, cloud computing is about to change your world for the better.
About 2600 years ago, the horse-drawn cart was invented. Since then, things have pretty much remained the same for ground transportation.
Sure, the method of propulsion has changed, and vehicles are more efficient and comfortable. But I’d argue argue that these improvements are secondary to the fact that the platform's main element - the human driver - has always been present. And this fact is stifling.
The same can be said for waterborne and air transportation. Since their inception, they’ve followed the same path as ground transportation. Improvements in performance while remaining fundamentally the same - with a human driver.
Also, we’ve settled uniformly on fossil fuels as the primary energy source, whenever we move anything. But for reasons we’re now all very aware of, this is unsustainable.
So - what’s about to change that will be so significant, is:
- We’ll be able to remove the human controller. And,
- We have the real opportunity to ditch fossil fuels and use renewable energy sources.
These are huge developments that will have a global impact on just about everything we all do. It’s a truly exciting and historic time - the world is going to be a very different place, for the better.
Machines & Renewables to Our Rescue
Here’s why: humans are error prone, easily distracted, get tired, need to be trained and are expensive. For mundane tasks such as piloting an aircraft, driving a car or commanding a boat, humans are far fundamentally flawed.
Autonomous transportation has long been understood to be the solution to the drawback of human control. However, the challenge has been the data handling, processing requirements and systems integration required to pull off such a feat.
Carbon-neutral vehicles: Using data to accelerate innovation
Check out this infographic on carbon-neutral vehicle design and the role of data.
To the second point - fossil fuels require no introduction. They’ve been our preeminent source of energy for the last 300 years, due to their ease of use, energy density and availability.
Now there’s a viable alternative, with renewables and spectacular leaps in battery chemistry, energy density, charge rates, safety and recyclability.
Why now?
What we have now is a convergence of key game-changing technologies that have matured to the point where they can be integrated to provide a truly autonomous surface and air transportation network - all centred on a nexus of cloud computing technologies.
Cloud computing has the speed, availability, price and capabilities required to connect all the required elements of this autonomous revolution into a seamless and scalable service.
Travel over distances of 300 km or less is about to become ultra-convenient, with a lower carbon footprint and at a lower cost. Real yield management, network platform integration and demand prediction, will combine to enable this change.
What we have now is a convergence of key game-changing technologies that have matured to the point where they can be integrated to provide a truly autonomous surface and air transportation network - all centred on a nexus of cloud computing technologies.
What will this really look like?
Consider taking an autonomous air taxi from an airport to a downtown location, direct to your desired address (or pretty close), saving time and money with a miniscule carbon impact. Your luggage may not be needed immediately, so it’s sent on a slower and even cheaper ground based autonomous platform, meeting you when you need it.
This is a simple example of how things will improve. Knock-on benefits will be improved city air quality, less congestion, improved quality of life and less wasted time.
And it’s all achieved on the foundation of cloud-based, scalable integration of a few unrelated technologies.
Cloud digitalisation as a driver for sustainability
This interactive guide explores 3 focal points for achieving measurable reductions in energy consumption and emissions through your cloud journey.
Where’s the opportunity for business?
Autonomous platforms, be they surface or air-based, will rely on very similar technologies for their enablement, yet all enabled by cloud computing.
The current automotive and aviation OEM industry is in a key position to produce most of the components that will be used in these platforms, but at a totally massive scale.
Cloud computing systems integrators, such as Nordcloud, will be required to build and manage the underlying infrastructure and platforms that will control these transportation networks.
Payments providers will be required to integrate with new subscription and tariff models that span multiple geographies and payment plans.
Cloud computing systems integrators will be required to build and manage the underlying infrastructure and platforms that will control these transportation networks.
The existing major airlines will need to embrace (or be part of) these new transportation platforms, as they will enhance the customer experience of the outbound and arrival phases of air travel. This may even include replacing some routes that airlines currently offer.
Entrepreneurs and non-linear competition, if they are funded well enough, have the chance to build these platforms, with niche or mass offerings.
For all of these opportunities, the returns will be enormous, and at Nordcloud, we’ll be at the forefront of this revolution in aviation, automotive and beyond.
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