Latest Analysis & Opinion – Page 8
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McKinsey study: Europe's slow digitization leaves money on the table
Europe's degree of digitization lacks behind the US (Photo: EU)European consumers are heavily invested in digital technologies, but the continent is far removed from realizing the full potential of digitization.That is one of the conclusions from a new study by the McKinsey Global Institute, a think tank affiliated with ...
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Reply to start European data-scientist training program
Industry 4.0 featured prominently at the Munich Reply Xchange (Photo: Arjen Bongard)MUNICH -- Reply SpA has signed an agreement with The Data Incubator to bring more data-analysis expertise to European companies.Reply, which operates a network of companies focused on developing new, connected technologies and business models, said it will ...
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Study: German managers confident of digital skills
Study finds that German companies aren't yet ready for digital era (Photo: E&Y)Senior German managers are highly confident that they have the digital skills to adapt their companies to a new era of digitized business processes. But many of their staff have a different opinion.According to a poll conducted ...
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Point of view: Germany's futile attempt to get EV sales going
Hilmar Dunker (Photo: Claus Dick)The German government is sticking to its goal to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2020. But a study by Brunswick University in northern Germany finds that a recently announced 5,000 euro subsidy for private car buyers won't do enough to bring ...
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Toyota and VW join ride-sharing trend
Toyota Motor and Volkswagen Group both announced ride-sharing moves, joining an auto-industry trend away from pure car-making toward broader mobility concepts.Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Uber that foresees ride-sharing trials in countries where this mode of transportation is expanding.As part of ...
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"We are experiencing an upheaval in manufacturing"
Schaefer (right) tests equipment at a Daimler transmission plant in Rumania (Photo: Daimler)Against a backdrop of steadily rising numbers of vehicle models and derivatives, extremely volatile markets and growing volumes, automotive manufacturing is facing major challenges. And digitization is adding more complexity to the mix. Daimler, like many other ...
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Hanover - automotiveIT Congress
In 2015, more than 500 people attended the annual conference (Photo: Claus Dick)The automotiveIT Congress, held annually during the CeBIT high-tech fair in Hanover, is set to take place March 17.With its focus on the digital transformation of the auto industry, the one-day conference brings together more than 500 ...
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Badly secured: The car industry under (cyber)attack
IT attacks on companies are piling up and experts say the automotive industry, a prime target for hackers, isn”˜t properly prepared. The damage cyber attacks can do is often substantial and the methods of the attackers are becoming more and more perfidious. Stuxnet was just the beginning.A steel plant in ...
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Study: Big data slow to take hold in transportation industry
PwC warns that, without big data analysis, logistics companies will lose competitiveness (Photo: Toll Collect)Transportation and logistics companies are slow to implement big data and business intelligence tools, according to a study by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers. Only 19 pc of companies surveyed are using the technologies as part of their ...
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Study: German CIOs and CTOs see IT as decisive for competitiveness, growth
Robert Half sees high demand for IT security experts (Photo: Symantec)CIOs and CTOs in Germany see IT as key for their companies' growth plans, according to a new study.In a survey of 200 corporate IT and technology executives, IT recruitment specialist Robert Half Technology found that 91 pc believe ...
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Worries grow over security of cloud data transfers
Surveys show that many IT managers are unhappy about breakdowns in data transfers to and from the cloudEnthusiasm was high at the outset, but now a survey shows that companies are beginning to have second thoughts about relying on cloud-based architectures. Many experts, for example, are increasingly questioning whether ...
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Nokia HERE: Accenture consultant sees more acquisitions
F Axel Schmidt (Photo: Accenture)Following news that Audi, BMW and Daimler are set to jointly acquire Nokia HERE, automotiveIT asked Accenture automotive expert Axel Schmidt three questions about the implications of the transaction.automotiveIT: What's in it for Audi, BMW and Daimler to acquire Nokia HERE?Schmidt: The carmakers are first and ...
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Salesforce raises ambitions in Europe
CEO Marc Benioff is the main speaker at the Salesforce World Tour sessions (Photo: Salesforce)MUNICH - With 7,100 guests registered to attend the German part of its World Tour, Salesforce.com is sending a clear signal that it aims to grow its presence in Europe.The San Francisco-based business software group ...
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Point of view: A need for connected logistics!
Hilmar Dunker is editor in chief of automotiveIT, GermanyThe manufacturing industry, including the world's automakers and suppliers, has been putting in a lot of effort to improve production processes through the introduction of new, connected, technologies. "Industry 4.0," which involves the networking of machinery and processes, is on track ...
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Opinion: How to attract female engineers
GM's Mary Barra is the only female CEO of a major carmaker (Photo: GM)One of the bigger challenges IT and other technology-driven industries have faced for decades is how to attract more female engineers.Efforts to boost the relatively low number of women in engineering companies remain largely unsuccessful. The ...
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Analysis: VW struggle reflects wider auto-industry dilemmas
Piech (l), Winterkorn and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in more harmonious times (Photo: VW)The resignation of Ferdinand Piech late Saturday as chairman of the Volkswagen Group's supervisory board doesn't just mark the end of a tumultuous and expansionist chapter in the history of Europe's largest carmaker. It also highlights ...
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Point of View: Germany needs Industry 4.0
Hilmar Dunker (Photo: Claus Dick)Industry 4.0 is the new buzzword and rightly so. The term attempts to capture the comprehensive change that is sweeping the global industrial landscape. It's therefore no exaggeration to use "4.0" to define the fourth industrial revolution that is upon us.But dig a little deeper ...
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automotiveIT publishes book about car industry's future
MUNICH ”“ Germany's Media-Manufaktur has published a book that provides an in-depth look at how the world's biggest car companies are preparing for an era of new mobility.The German business publisher, parent company of automotiveIT and automotiveIT international, said the new 88-page ”“ English-language ”“ book is titled “Automotive 4.0 ...
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Point of View: The Uber case
The Uber app lets customers book a car from their smartphone (Photo: Apple)(This Point of View was originally published in the October edition of the automotiveIT international Executive Report)In cities all over the world an ugly war is being fought by “traditional” taxi companies against a new form of ...
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BMW on track with efforts to reduce energy consumption in plants
At BMW's Spartanburg plant, more than 80 production units and robots have smart meters (Photo: BMW)BMW is on track with efforts to lower the amount of energy it needs to build cars, with energy consumption per vehicle dropping 31 percent between 2006 and 2013. By 2020, the Munich-based premium ...