• Enewsletter Subscription
  • Podcasts
  • New Products
  • Safety Leadership Conference
    • Image
    1. Global Supply Chain

    Project Loon: Google X Aims to Give Everybody on Earth Internet Access

    Sept. 15, 2014
    Whether the issue is affordability, geography or natural disasters, two out of three people on Earth do not have internet access.  Project Loon aims to change that.

    A year ago, Google X announced its skunkworks project, Project Loon with little fanfare.  Project Loon is designed to use a network of polyethylene-based, Solar- and battery-powered balloons somewhat resembling weather balloons which carry antennas networked to other balloons as well as to Internet antennas on the ground.

    Supply chain implications for Project Loon are enormous.  Mike Cassidy, director of Google X’s Project Loon, featured speaker at the Material Handling & Logistics conference hosted by Dematic, states that the supply chain implications alone are enormous.  Cassidy points out, “Project Loon offers a way to track every shipment, everywhere in the world.”

    Read more about Project Loon on IndustryWeek, a companion site of MH&L and part of Penton’s Manufacturing and Supply Chain Group.

    About the Author

    Dave Blanchard | Senior Director of Content

    During his career Dave Blanchard has led the editorial management of many of Endeavor Business Media's best-known brands, including IndustryWeek, EHS Today, Material Handling & Logistics, Logistics Today, Supply Chain Technology News, and Business Finance. He also serves as senior content director of the annual Safety Leadership Conference. With over 30 years of B2B media experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2021), which has been translated into several languages and is currently in its third edition. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at major trade shows and conferences, and has won numerous awards for writing and editing. He is a voting member of the jury of the Logistics Hall of Fame, and is a graduate of Northern Illinois University.