i3 - January/February 2020 - 2

Get Ready for our
Roaring 20s
With 2019 and Trump's tariffs and its two steps forward,
one tweet backward approach
behind us, we can say the
past year was the denouement of a decade of growth,
transition and change.
The 2010s may be defined
as the era when controversy
over immigration, globalism
and free trade changed politics, politicians and the world.
But it can also be defined by
the change from 3G to 4G;
from cell phones to smartphones and apps; from ownership to a sharing economy;
and from a digital world to a
connected world. Today, it's a
new world of pervasive flat
screens including tablets and
phones, streaming, unbundling, and digital health care.
We have long preached
that every company is a
tech company.
CES reflects that truth.
At CES 2010 we had 2,500
exhibitors, big CE company
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

keynoters and just a few
CMOs. CES 2020 will host
some 4,500 exhibiting companies and includes presentations from Daimler
Mercedes, Delta Air Lines,
Impossible Meat, NBC
Universal, Salesforce and
Unilever. Our C Space programming will attract thousands of CMOs, big platforms
and advertisers.
CES 2020 reflects the hope
and growth opportunities of
the 2020s. We are shifting to
solving big problems with
artificial intelligence and
robotics. We will be healthier
thanks to digital health and
connectivity. 5G will create
new opportunities. Startups
are a critical part of the innovation ecosystem as the 1,200
companies in Eureka Park
reflect. Climate change and
demographics will force
changes as we further urbanize, seek to save energy and
lives, focus on resiliency,

A century ago
the roaring
twenties were
an era of levity,
optimism and
growth. I hope
our 20s will be
the era we solve
some of the
world's biggest
challenges.
create smart cities and shift
to self-driving vehicles.
As we move forward, the
value of well-known brands
will grow. Privacy will matter.
New technologies will blossom. Governments will regulate out of fear or to protect
the status quo and could
erect new borders and taxes
to restrict immigration,
block trade and protect local
businesses. China and the
West may decouple as the
economic battle shifts to

whether the greater good and
social harmony are more
important than individual
freedoms. Nations will choose
whether human rights, free
exercise of religion, choice in
voting and access to information and the wealth of the
internet are more important
than social control.
The 2020s will be full of
opportunities and challenges. New business models,
socially conscious consumers
and the promise of technology may clash with those
seeking to preserve the past,
old jobs and traditional concepts of privacy.
Through it all, our challenge
will be to ensure the world
receives the benefits of innovation. Think: healthier and
safer lives. The empowering of
the elderly and the disabled.
Education that fits individual
needs. And new forms of
energy and transportation that
save the environment, keep us
mobile and provisioned, and
improve our world.
A century ago the roaring
twenties were an era of levity,
optimism and growth. I hope
our 20s will be the era we
solve some of the world's biggest challenges.

Gary Shapiro,
President and CEO
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

Background: Kwanchai Lerttanapunyaporn/EyeEm/Getty Images. Icons from top left: KTS Design/Science Photo Library/Getty Images, Yagi Studio/Getty Images, MR.Cole_Photographer/Getty Images, Viaframe/Getty Images.

From the CEO

i3 - January/February 2020

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