The Reading Room – What’s the SCOOP?

After hijacking a space on EMSNOW’s homepage while I guest edited the publication, their esteemed editor, Jennifer Read, has kindly allowed me back on a weekly basis to share some of what I am watching, reading and even listening to. So, here’s a few things I’ve enjoyed this week, some of which you will see among my regular posts on LinkedIn or Twitter.

• The great debate – who’s the biggest EMS and should we care? Recently, MMI released their industry top 50and Randal Sherman was interviewed by EMSNOW. EE News Analog published Reed Electronic Research’s European Top 20 EMS Companiesand columnist and researcher Dieter Weiss provided his own insight. Whilst these researchers are not in agreement it seems that the desire to be the biggest still prevails. Surely that ship has sailed in the direction of Taiwan and Foxconn in particularly. I am much more interested in learning who is the smartest EMS in the world. I suspect that’s where the future EMS battles will be won and lost.
• Whilst we’re on the topic of large scale manufacturing, this piece in EE Times, by Junko Yoshida, caught my eye. Apparently, Taiwan Tech is Homeward Bound from China. The subheading says it all “It’s not so much about Trump, but about Xi Jinping”. It seems that trade wars and tariffs continue to have unintended consequences…
• According to an article by McKinsey, “With great power comes great responsibility. Organizations can mitigate the risks of applying artificial intelligence and advanced analytics by embracing three principles.” Read their latest AI musing in “Confronting the risks of artificial intelligence” By Benjamin Cheatham, Kia Javanmardian, and Hamid Samandari
• I love the idea that technology can help to level the playing field and reduce inequality. Check out this excellent article from Ghita El Kasri, COO of UnitedCoin, entitled “Why Blockchain Technology is Empowering Women”, published this week.
• I really enjoyed reading ‘9 women executives on what they hope to teach their daughters’ in honor of Take Your Kid to Work Day. Work is changing and our approach to what ‘work life balance’ looks like is changing too. My children are grown up with their own careers and it’s exciting to see them grow into the challenges they face and to see how work is so different to when I started my career a few decades ago.
• On a lighter note… I get that there’s a National Pretzel Day, but National Hairball Awareness Day, really? According to Hailey McKeefry in here EBN piece Happy World IP Day, there is… But more importantly this article explores the importance of IP (Intellectual Property) as a foundation to a successful industry.

That’s it until next week! For more regular musing connect or follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Read more, watch more, hear more, know more – that’s the SCOOP!