Solar Impulse’s flight of fantasy opens door to exciting new reality

of technology to achieve the impossible.

We congratulate our friends Bertrand and André and their fantastic team. With digital technologies, and advances in industrial artificial intelligence and machine learning, we are on the cusp of a new industrial revolution, which promises to be at least as transformative as those that came before. In the years ahead, industry will change beyond all recognition as machines and robots acquire the ability to communicate with each other and automation extends beyond individual machines to entire industrial ecosystems.

For many people, the prospect of such profound change is concerning, even frightening, especially when it comes to employment and job prospects.

But as Solar Impulse has shown, technology is not something to be feared or resisted. On the contrary, it is the solution to challenges such as climate change and, as in previous industrial revolutions, it will lead to new industries and opportunities and, through scientific advances and increased prosperity, improve the lives and prospects of future generations.

The lessons of Solar Impulse are clear: by pushing the boundaries of technology, and refusing to accept limits, technological or psychological, we can run the world without consuming the earth, and reach heights we never believed were possible.