Several days ago I attended a Tech Talk and at Bellevue College by Ron West, an engineering manager from ReachNow– a leading edge car sharing service from BMW, located in Seattle, Portland, and Brooklyn.
The talk was broad, and we touched upon topics ranging from the technology associated with car tracking, their business model, privacy issues associated with AI/Big Data in car sharing services, and liability concerns with fully autonomous cars.
Heck, I also learned that the Mini-Cooper is part of the BMW ecosystem!
But my big takeaway was this:
As Web 3.0 Technologies (Big Data, AI, IoTs, The Semantic Web, Blockchain, AR & VR) continue to intertwine themselves within healthcare, the relationship of BMW with ReachNow can be used as a guide to how large healthcare organizations should approach these technologies.
You see, although embedded deeply within BMW’s DNA is the idea (and reality?) they make “The Ultimate Driving Machine”, their creation of the ReachNow company (and other entities, such as BMW’s Institute for Mobility Research) shows that BMW is able to move beyond seeing themselves as an automobile product maker to something much broader: The Ultimate Mobility Services Company.
Put another way, BMW has considered, and is testing (via companies such as ReachNow), the possibility they need to expand their vision of themselves from the “Joy of Driving” to include the “Joy of Mobility.”
(This is not insignificant from a business perspective, and much of it is about trust. For example, 5 years from now, when I am brave enough to get into my first autonomous, self driving car, I would much rather see a BMW logo on the hood than an Uber symbol on the hood! Wouldn’t you? )
Here I think BMW learned the lesson of Kodak, which, despite being the ultimate photography film-making company – and probably because of this – couldn’t see themselves as the ultimate photography sharing company. ReachNow is a conscious expression of that understanding.
Anyway, Healthcare organizations need to approach Web 3.0 technologies like BMW- with an open mind, even – and most especially – if it means challenging and experimenting with their own DNA.
If they don’t, someone else will.