By Jeff Sanford
Toronto, Ontario — February 1, 2016 — The collision world is gearing up for another big event. The International Body Shop Industry Symposium takes place in Barcelona, Spain and promises to examine the collision industry from the very highest levels.
Collision Repair magazine is the exclusive Canadian Media Partner for IBIS. Continue watching collisionrepairmag.com for exciting previews in the lead up to the event, including previews of what to expect from speakers. Judging by the list of those scheduled to speak, this is going to be a fascinating event.
IBIS has recently announced the keynote speaker, and it’s a big catch. We’ve heard all kinds of talk this past year about the move by Google to enter the car industry. Addressing IBIS this year will be Richard Offermann, Industry Leader, Automotive, at Google, along with Tanja Hufschmidt, Analytical Lead at Google Automotive. Google is one of the largest and best-known companies in the world. According to the IBIS promotional material, “With business interests in almost every sector that technology touches Google’s move into automotive and insurance was inevitable and its power to disrupt, change and lead the future of our industry is incomparable.” The company has been testing its Google self-driving car on the roads of California. The developments at this tech company are going to have great impact on the future evolution of the auto industry. This year’s keynote may provide a snapshot of what we can expect in years to come. Having Google execs deliver the keynote is fitting considering the theme of this year’s event, “changing future landscapes.”
The idea of rapid technological change will also be taken up in an address by John Van Alstyne, CEO and President of I-CAR. Communicating through a press agent, Van Alstyne indicated he is still working on his presentation, so nothing is final, but he passed along some of the general ideas.
“As you know, the collision repair industry is just beginning to see the impact of rapidly accelerating advancements in vehicle technology and materials spurred by aggressive fuel economy legislation, driver safety initiatives and consumer demand for new features. I-CAR refers to this as the ‘Technical Tsunami’,” according to an email. That is, there is a wave of new technologies just now entering the automotive industry. The worlds of Silicon Valley and Detroit are colliding. The new so-called Internet of Everything will include the auto industry, which will see connected cars tapped into the cloud and each other. Computers in cars will be linked to each other on the highway and to other machines. This is going to open up new commercial opportunities, as well as challenges for companies in the auto sector. But what will be key in this new era is the right kind of training to work on these advanced, next-generation autos. “When combined with the already steady influx of new vehicle models every year—OEMs launch approximately 75 to 100 new vehicles every year in the US market—the impact is significant and growing repair complexity for every repair facility across the industry,” says Van Alstyne’s rep.
Van Alstyne will be on hand at IBIS to describe the new world now dawning and help collision repair executives get a handle on the new state of business in the sector. “I-CAR provides the necessary education, knowledge and solutions required to survive the Technical Tsunami. Training is fundamental to that,” according to the I-CAR spokesperson.
For more information, please visit ibisworldwide.com.
