Camille D's Profile

Great post JimmySigner! The efficiency of Google Maps rests on the fact that users share their information with Google. However, most users do not share this information willingly or consciously (I’ll leave the choice of word to you). Hence, this model would be at risk if there were to be a consumer backlash against this indiscriminate use of data. How do you think Google should address these issues? Ultimately, Google’s lack of transparency could end up being its undoing.

Great post AJR! As an NFL fan from abroad, I have all too often struggled to get to see most NFL games. In some parts of the world, this generally involves paying a cable company for a 1-year contract and then additional fees to actually manage to watch a few games. In others, it has meant no access whatsoever. I am convinced that streaming services will allow the NFL to bypass cable companies and get a bigger audience by offering less expensive content to avid consumers abroad. This will allow the NFL and consumers to keep the whole pie to themselves.

J2G18, it was very interesting to hear of yet another additional application for drones. I do hear your concern about the effect that this technology could have on jobs held by human beings: new technologies are rapidly threatening the positions of millions of individuals across the globe. However, technical progress will open new activities and jobs that we hadn’t thought of. It is important, however, that companies help employees who held positions threatened by new technologies transition into positions that serve these technologies.

Great post JPW! It is impressive to see how sophisticated have law-enforcement agencies become. This allows for a much more precise action while also reducing non-compliance with procedures. These technologies offer particular hope for cities in which corrupt or inefficient street police officers are one of the sources of incident identification: by relying more and more on automated sensors, you reduce the need for human intervention, thus allowing centralized operations centers to deploy adequate measures to respond to incidents. Let’s hope this advances will channel through to the places that are in most need of them.

Very good article Koulick! I found it very interesting to see how Rivigo has addressed several of the challenges that several trucking companies face in developing markets. I believe that the visibility they give their clients on the status of their fright is a key piece of their business model: very often, given their limited size and technical expertise, trucking companies have limited capacity to give live and reliable information to their customers. I believe they are definitely on the right track to have a profound impact on an industry that doesn’t innovate as much as it should.

This post is well-structured, well-supported and makes a compelling argument. As Tesla goes into the mass automobile market, it will start competing directly with such giants as VW, GM, Toyota and Ford. Will it manage to compete with them by itself? There is no doubt that Tesla has a unique expertise when it comes to batteries, electric engines and software. However, that’s just one side of car manufacturing. Managing supply chains to build 10 million vehicles a year (instead of the fewer than 500,000 Tesla plans to build in the medium term) demands a completely new expertise. It seems to me that Tesla’s travails have only just begun!

I found it very interesting that livestock is responsible for such an important proportion of GHG’s. The methods Fronterra has used to reduce its emissions are very creative. However, there are some questions that are left unanswered: what is the breakdown of GHG’s emitted by Fronterra in the form of land, energy and air? Identifying the main culprit of emissions would be very helpful in assessing the impact of Fronterra’s efforts to reduce emissions. What is the result of Fronterra’s current efforts? Have they resulted in a significant reduction of GHG’s or will Fronterra have to make more – costly – changes to meet its targets? It seems that with lower prices and higher costs, the company’s future doesn’t look too bright (at least in New Zaeland).

I don’t agree that EV’s current charging and range issues will keep it from becoming tomorrow’s leading standard for vehicles. First, range has constantly been a criticism of EV’s. However, recent advances in the development of batteries have significantly increased the range of EV’s. Second, the practical drawback of having to charge your car for at least 30 minutes will be reduced by a longer range. Finally, the reduced availability of platinum could well cause car manufacturers to look for a technology that doesn’t rely on such a scarce resources.

I was really interested in the diverse approaches that PepsiCo is using to reduce its water consumption. However, I would be very interested to know how representative are these efforts: do the 28,000 farmers in which these techniques are being applied represent most of their supply or do they represent a fraction of it? What was its global consumption before it started implementing these methods and what is its global consumption now? It would also be very interesting to know how has this affected its costs. If these changes are indeed affordable, it would serve as a great example for other corporations that rely so heavily on agricultural products and for governments to look for means to introduce these techniques in the industry.

Gyijiang makes a very important point when questioning BP’s commitment to sustainability. Even though BP has reduced its dependency on oil, it seems to have bet the house on natural gas (50% of its portfolio and set to grow bigger). The point can be made that gas is a cleaner source of energy. However, it is neither a renewable source of energy nor a clean source of energy. It simply pollutes less than oil. How would you evaluate BP’s strategy of shifting towards natural gas against one of betting on renewable sources?