The self driving crystal ball

IT DOESN’T TAKE A CRYSTAL BALL—IT DOES  TAKE A VISION  FOR THE FUTURE

…and a will to lead…

Every day  and sometimes twice a day the news (no matter where you get it) features the latest new phone, the most convenient  new app, and “the ease of doing things in “our  new innovative way.”   Yet most of the reporting  I’ve seen  on autonomous vehicles and  all the “levels” is filled with “predicted” launch dates, time “estimates”, projected costs,and osorted public opinion polls.  There is, however, one  theme that gets overlooked.  

A whole  lot of us are still acting as  the question is not  when  things are going to happen…. we are still acting as if the question if “IF” this going to happen.  

Well wondering  if or when this is going to happen is like standing on the railroad tracks, seeing the train, and wondering  how fast the train is coming.  

The questions that we should be asking are  not the elusive who, what, where, when, or why… we are  better off turning our  leadership questions to the alphabetic outlier HOW.

If you are a person with a disability—how are you going to influence  your policy makers to require these  new vehicles to meet the standards that guarantee your right to equal participation?  If you are a policy maker how  are you going to build financial structures  that will allow people with disabilities to own, subscribe to, or simply have  geographic  access to  the new forms of transportation being developed.  No matter what time table we are using  there is always time for equal opportunity.  

As a forward thinking  manufacturer how are  you going to support access up front so that the engineers of the future “don’t have to  retrofit your defective designs?  Ask the housing  sector  about the ease of  building  access in versus the cost of  going back after the fact.  Please look at the demographics  of the U.S. and understand that the silver  stampede (older Americans  who often have physical limitations and money) are going to be   voting for the  policy makers that will free the cities up to create the welcoming  environments for your new  vehicles.  

The time  is now and the question is HOW?  

We all have an investment in this thing that is  already happening and in some places has already happened.

How are we going to reform  our schools to develop  youth who can conceptualize and  invent a post  industrial society?  There will still be industry, however, the labor force will be consuming voltage not Mt. Dew and Skittles on their  15 minute  break?  

“This won’t happen overnight” said the 8-track player engineer to the cassette company as the CD-Rom  folks chuckled briefly— so in summing up.  If you are person with a disability start asking your elected officials and  anyone involved in this process “how can I help you include me?”   If you are a policy maker start asking the “auto” industry how they are going to include every citizen?”  If you are in the auto industry start asking policy makers how  are we going to smooth the transition and start asking the  people in your lives  who experience disabilities or age “how can we make  this work?”  

Get in some rooms together and start talking  about…. not  when or if or why….. start figuring  out How.