CII 2018 Annual Report
Dear Valued CII Members:
The rationale for participating in CII has never been more compelling. I say that not because of the extensive progress we’ve made reimagining and retooling your Institute for what’s next, but because the value of making connections and collaborating with other people and other companies has never been more necessary than it is now.
In following many of our members, I recently read with interest how General Motors was leading a working group of companies including Ford, BMW, Honda, Renault, Bosch, IBM and others to share data gathered from automated driving. The reason? The automakers concluded that it would take between 10 and 20 years to each obtain enough experience to make the automated car commercially viable – but it might only take five years if they shared their experiences and data (in a secure, blockchain-enabled way) with each other. The parallel to CII is unmistakable – working together, our members can realize their desired business outcomes much faster and at a heightened level relative to what they could accomplish on their own.
Throughout 2018, CII focused on reshaping our operations to provide consistency and an improved focus on what’s needed to facilitate our members’ success in the future. In fact, our Funded Studies Committee took the initiative through the year to engage “futurists” at the University of Houston to help them envision what the Institute needs to be researching today to meet our companies’ needs in the years ahead. More than just the new research programs that emerged (i.e., AI for AWP, Workforce 2030, and Collaborative Delivery), a desire for CII to intensify its focus on a core set of strategic initiatives was gained (think eight, not 80, initiatives being worked on by CII’s 11 committees). That focus has now generated a renewed interest amongst our membership to make connections with peers and collaborate with competitors in new and exciting ways.
