Software is the key to this ‘new gold’ of mobility AFTER THE Y2K scare of 2000, the world accelerated toward digital solutions in the blink of an eye. The way we consume data is, to some, unfathomable. To others, it is the only way.
According to Statista, 66% of the world population — some 5.3 billion people — already have access to the internet. On the other hand, the International Telecommunications Union reports that there are 8.
59 billion smartphone subscriptions worldwide — meaning there are more subscribers than there are people. In the Philippines, DataReportal reports that there were 87 million internet users at the start of 2024, or a penetration of 73.6%; and a total of 117.
4 million cellular mobile connections, equivalent to 99.3% of the population. One of the most significant changes that the digital revolution spawned is in the field of mobility.
Early in the last decade, then president (now chairman) of Toyota Motor Corp. Akio Toyoda raised an urgent call to action. Noting a “once-in-a-century period of profound transformation,” he acknowledged that technology is changing the automotive industry very rapidly.
Mr. Toyoda recognized that new players are no longer limited to companies that were solely in the business of making cars. For example, Google announced a self-driving car project in 2009 that was eventually renamed Waymo in 2016.
The company does not intend to build cars but, rather, focus on self-driving technology. Meantime, Apple did resea.