Some years ago, I was inspired by some digital nomads that did a railway map about South East Asia. They showed that with a few tricks, you can make a comprehensive map of a region or a continent in a metro style. It took me a few attempts till I finally created something that can … Continue reading Mapping Railways in Africa
Every now and then I can read, or even write, a business plan about an idea, a product or a startup. One part of it always bewilders me since I never trust the numbers: Market and competitive research. On the one hand, most business plans do cover the topic only very superficially by either stating … Continue reading Why we need to rethink market research in a business plan
After making mostly critical comments on the reports published by consulting companies, I have also to point out truly good articles. One of those is certainly the recent McKinsey article on Smart Cities in South East Asia. What we generally understand nowadays as a smart city is a connected city, where monitoring allows dynamic adapting … Continue reading What makes a smart city smart
A year ago, I participated as many others in the Metropolitan Transit Authority's idea challenge on solving the signaling problem within a feasible time and less than the projected >40bn USD costs. Since a child, I personally experienced the subway on numerous visits and was always astound on what the subway managed to perform, especially … Continue reading What’s the matter with New York’s subway
Initially, when looking at any topic or field the fundamental question pops up: Build it yourself or buy it from a supplier in a market. This question is the only real strategic question when it comes to procurement. Other aspects, such as procurement strategy, have a much to do with strategy as a bunch of … Continue reading Procurement: Make or Buy
Since everybody with any useful degree, such as myself with a simple business degree, can raise his or her opinion about some basic mechanics, I can do that too, with this simple comment on a report that was recently published. Railway maintenance is a topic that is very dear to me, hence I often read … Continue reading Railway Maintenance going predictive? – or why you should not ask consulting firms
A topic that has intrigued me throughout my life so far is the topic of procurement. Not because I think it is very attractive or sexy, but because it can enable or be a show-stopper to implement great ideas. Two weeks ago, I had, with a variety of customers, colleagues and friends in various settings … Continue reading Procurement: Overview
A thing that is bothering for over twenty years is that transport does not seem to attract significant investments and innovations in its sectors. While the IT industry still follows Moor's law (respectively an abrevation of it), transport does not seem to evolve and attract disrupting new players. The role of private players in transport … Continue reading Why Transportation does not attract relevant Startups
Finally 2018 arrived and a exciting sometimes divisive and decisive 2017 ended. Certainly, the shift in US politics from a pro sustainable energy to a pro fossile energy has create a changing climate for projects in the US as well as in other countries. Nevertheless, Europe and Chine are surpassing the US in technical development … Continue reading Reflections and predictions in the transportation industry 2017/2018
We have reached now a computation power where machine learning algorithms can easily be applied across a spectrum of industries to resolve a huge variety of problems. While first successes are also published in the railway industry this also opens up the market for what I call "snake-oil-resellers". Companies or individuals that use publicly available models, claim … Continue reading Predictive Maintenance – selling snake oil to a gullible audience
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