Editor’s comment for August 2018

The reason? Attending the company’s HxGN LIVE 2018 event taking place at the Venetian Hotel. This is Hexagon’s flagship global technology event and it’s positively huge. 3,500 attendees; 200 product demos; keynote speeches and an intense seminar/training programme spanning the entire four days of the event.

Events like these have changed in recent years. Up until about five years ago, new product launches were the order of the day. Now, from machine tools to metrology equipment, the emphasis is less about products and more about connectivity, artificial intelligence and data.

It’s not every day that I attend a press conference that speaks about Netflix of all things, but this was no ordinary event. Ola Rollén, Hexagon’s president and CEO referenced the streaming movie giant to deliver his ‘Big Leap’ keynote speech. He spoke of the power of disruptive ideas and how they can revolutionise the fortunes of companies, organisations and even the path of mankind. “You have the choice to be disrupted or be the disruptor,” he declared.

History is awash with these ‘big leaps’ he refers to. The invention of the wheel, the printing press, penicillin – and Netflix actually. OK, this may not be of immense philanthropic significance, but it has certainly has rocked the home entertainment world.

Here’s the analogy. Before Netflix there was Blockbuster. Remember them? At their peak they had 9,000 stores, 60 million customers and rented out nearly one billion films a year.

Then, an entrepreneurial Blockbuster customer called Reed Hastings, after being fined for returning his film late vowed to start his own video rental company. This coincided with the advent of the Internet and things snowballed. Once download speeds were fast enough, you didn’t need to buy films anymore – you could stream content direct to your device of choice.

It’s actually a great example of ‘The Big Leap’ that Ola Rollén referenced in his keynote. Today Netflix is worth billions whilst Blockbuster went out of business in 2010. It had the mindset to transform.

In this issue on pages 28-29 you can read more about Ola’s opening keynote at HxGN LIVE 2018. I personally found it pretty inspiring and accurate. See what you think.

In terms of the event report, because of the sheer volume of content, I’ll be spreading it over the August and September issues. Part two next month.

Dave Tudor
Editorial Director