| | December 20209CIOReviewSuccessful outcome won't automatically happen just because the project has been completed. They need to be actively managed and used until they have been achievedthere's been developments underway centered around driver safety regarding the use of AI and machine learning within the industry. Probably the best example of this is in the use of cameras by fleets today. Some of these camera platforms now have the capabilities to not just "record, and store" footage for use in safety and/or legal efforts, but are now evolving into proactive real-time platforms to assist in identifying those good driving behaviors of a professional safety conscious driver. At the technical level, all of this is accomplished by cameras with embedded GPU's and edge computing capabilities to identify such things as following distance, road conditions, weather, stop signs, and stop lights. This is very similar to what we are witnessing developing in the autonomous driving industry out in Silicon Valley. Finally, there's the regulatory FMCSA mandate regarding Electronic Logging Devices or ELDs. By December, 2019,almost all commercial vehicles in the US will be required to have an ELD installed inside to record a driver's hours of service (driving, break, and on duty time). This provides the industry yet another opportunity to efficiently operate our fleets. We now have the capability to hook directly into the ECM of the truck to monitor performance, MPG, pro-actively analyze fault codes, communicate quickly with our drivers, and work with our customers in near real-time as we expose up to the minute track and trace tools capabilities. This is something that before the ELD mandate just wasn't possible.I believe the key to gaining maximum efficiency to all these new and exciting technologies; however, is our approach at how we go about realizing these potential benefits. Many businesses today assume that once they implement a new technology, they'll automatically start realizing the savings and benefits. A study done by Peppard, Ward & Daniel (2007) laid out the five main principals to consider to realize benefits from Information Technology. They were 1.) `IT has no inherent value' ­ just having the new flashy system deployed doesn't necessarily do anything for the business. You don't gain anything until you actually start using it. 2.) `Benefits arise when IT enables people to do things differently' -this is the people element of the equation. Your operational staff needs to be open to change and re-shaping the way things have typically been done to improve. 3.) `Only business managers and users can release business benefits' - business managers needs to be accountable and involved working with IT to help drive these changes. 4.) `All IT projects have outcomes but not all outcomes are benefits' ­ or in other words many IT projects today fail or produce negative results, and care needs to be put in to evaluating solutions and technology tools before they are implemented. And lastly, 5.) `Benefits must be actively managed for' ­ the successful outcome won't automatically happen just because the project has been completed. They need to be actively managed and used until they have been achieved.When you think about the all the new tools and technologies available today, it's interesting to look back and reflect that even though we now have more potential in technology to improve our business then we've ever had before, the underlying way that businesses need to act to best utilize these amazing new tools hasn't changed at all since the days of the 286 PC.
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