Intelligent Access

Access is how we all plug into the world. Whether you’re collaborating across continents or making a purchase from your cell phone, Access makes these exchanges possible. Access and the connections it enables are essential resources. The good news is Access is not only a renewable resource, but an ever-expanding one as well. As Access expands it must be matched by smarter Access — or “Intelligent Access” as we’ve come to call it.

Intelligent Access is harnessing and managing the flood of information that accompanies the products, goods and services that shape our world. It means making smarter choices and more efficient connections, which result in more sustainable outcomes. I’ve heard that the average person today gets more information in one week’s worth of The New York Times than a person in the 18th century encountered in a lifetime. With more and more information piling up around us, it’s clear the question is no longer about who has the most Access, but who uses it most intelligently.

The concept of Intelligent Access came out of a research report we commissioned from the nonprofit institute SRI International. FedEx has been working with SRI to study the reach and effects of Access since 2006.

The lines between new technologies like social networks and hard infrastructure are blurring as rapid advances in Access change the way people live their lives and run their businesses. We live in a world where it’s not unusual for a California-based company, with little more than a good idea, to partner with a provider in China to churn out cutting-edge products. This sort of re-imagined supply chain is possible thanks to the unprecedented level of Access we have today — and our capacity to apply it more intelligently.

We strive to make smart connections like this possible across and within borders by helping individual countries become better connected. In Mexico, for instance, FedEx opened a hub last fall in San Luis Potosí. In the heart of Mexico’s “Golden Triangle,” this hub is ideally located in the area’s major commercial and industrial center. We’re providing our customers across the country with a new way to connect, and in some cases, a better way to do business. Mexico’s express shipping market is projected to grow to $1.5 billion in the next 10 years. When we deliver this level of Access to our customers, we give them the smart connections they need. This is Intelligent Access.

The upcoming issue of Access Review magazine further explores the ideas and issues surrounding Intelligent Access.
You can sign up to receive a complimentary copy by clicking here. I hope you enjoy it, and I welcome your feedback.