Ratan Tata and Michael Boustridge Join X PRIZE Foundation Board of Directors

Business Icon Ratan Tata and IT Services Leader Michael Boustridge Join X PRIZE Foundation Board of Trustees - X PRIZE Foundation press release:

Tata is the Chairman of Tata Sons, holding company of the Tata Group, India’s largest conglomerate. Michael Boustridge is the President of BT Americas, a high-growth region of BT Global Services.

Tata Motors is the first major automobile manufacturer to enter the Automotive X PRIZE competition for non-concept cars that can get 100 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent). It seems like every week makes it more and more numbingly obvious (if it wasn't already plenty obvious 5 years ago when gas was cheap) that manufacturers are missing a big opportunity when they neglect the efficient car market and marketing opportunities like the AXP.

It's a similar story with commercial space opportunities and some (not all, and not every division) of the big aerospace contractor companies. Cost plus government contracts seem nice now and probably will play some long-term role, just like SUV sales, but is the writing already on the wall for them as the centerpiece of a healthy business?