Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1437606
18 PCB007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2021 will bring the mixed-reality capabilities to Teams. ey talked a lot about the metaverse. Whether we call it XR or the metaverse, I think there's a tremendous opportunity there. Had we been further along in that roadmap, I think that you would have seen a large uptake and an acceleration for mixed reality as we went into the COVID shutdown, but we just didn't have the hardware or the service infra- structure in place. e metaverse is definitely an emerging market to watch. Another area to watch is the transition from digitization to datafication. Part of this tran- sition involves bringing greater computation power to areas that only recently were digi- tized. One of the great examples of this datafi- cation is the MBUX Hyperscreen curved dis- play that Mercedes introduced earlier this year. It extends pillar-to-pillar across the dashboard of the car, with a multicore central processing unit (CPU). is screen uses artificial intel- ligence and has what is called a "Zero Layer" interface which uses voice and touch. So, now we're seeing the computerization of that dash- board. Google has announced some major ini- tiatives to change the dashboard as well. is is just one example of what is happening in every industry. e broad electrification of vehicles is another big trend and we have just barely seen the cusp of that. But all the auto manufacturers are push- ing in that direction and inevitably that will come. is ties into a much broader narrative related to the environmental, social, and cor- porate governance (ESG) movement that's happening globally among corporations. In the U.S., as we work to catch up with Europe and other regions that have been more progressive, we'll be seeing a lot of companies report more precise measures of their ESG impact. You've seen the Securities and Exchange Commis- sion (SEC) come out and say, "A lot of compa- nies are talking about ESG. We think that there needs to be some standardization in how this information is communicated." In SEC Chair Gary Gensler's speech a few months ago 1 , he laid out what he saw as his outline for ESG dis- closure, and he suggested it should be manda- tory instead of voluntary. If the SEC has mandatory ESG disclosure requirements, how does that all factor back to us? Well, a piece of that is not only your own carbon footprint, but it's your supply chain and measuring your whole supply chain. Elec- tronics manufacturers may not be as far down this path as others are who tend to be more consumer-facing, but they're going to have to be there because their buyers are going to require it. Over the next decade, I think ESG will have a major impact on the industry. If a major OEM is required by the SEC to disclose certain things and to measure things in certain ways, then so will their supply chain. I think you'll see other requirements on the social and gov- ernment piece for public companies, but the environmental piece is something that feeds into the supply chain. Matties: Is there supply chain reshoring? How dramatic is it? Is it something we need to be aware of ? And if so, what's the long-term effect? DuBravac: Yes, my sense is that it's happening to some extent on the margin. ere were already forces at work pre-pandemic, tariffs and other In the U.S., as we work to catch up with Europe and other regions that have been more progressive, we'll be seeing a lot of companies report more precise measures of their ESG impact.