Back on the ground, interest lies in the adoption of autonomous vehicles. Warehouses and fulfilment centres for years have been using autonomous vehicles, moving products and packages around as directed. While in the past they have largely followed pre-determined routes (so requiring a fixed infrastructure), the next generation of vehicles uses 3D vision guidance systems. These vehicles not only transport goods, and can load and unload packages quickly and safely, they also automatically join together to transport large products – and whenever an obstacle is encountered instinctively re-plan routes.

What many find interesting is how this technology can migrate from inside buildings to the outside, and start to change how goods are moved around cities. If multiple white vans can be replaced by a swarm of autonomous electric delivery vehicles then the efficiency improvements can be significant. Although they will be slow moving for safety reasons, supporters argue that they can navigate through urban districts, choose routes that avoid causing congestion, and deliver goods when and where required.

This will work not just for deliveries to end consumer but also in the B2B environment. Offices, restaurants, retailers and even manufacturers, it is argued, can gain from the network efficiencies that will be realized. Evidently the elimination of the need for drivers has social and economic implications, but within the logistics arena would lead to significant cost savings. Although there are a number of regulatory hurdles to be overcome, supporters, including many in the logistics sector, see that the technology is fast-becoming scalable; the business case is compelling and the environmental benefits attractive.

At one extreme these vehicles can be so small that effectively they are only slightly larger than the parcels themselves and we end up with the fully automated system with self-driving parcels. One such example is the Starship project from the founders of Skype. This is a self-driving robot that can hold up to 10kg of goods and travels along pavements at a sedate 4mph so as not to disrupt pedestrians.

Another option being explored is to make self-driving passenger vehicles also carry packages. As we move into a world of driverless taxis and autonomous cars, many see an opportunity to use them for moving goods around whenever they are not moving people. So, rather than sitting stationary in a car park or on the street, when not required by human customers they can be seen as a shared resources and provide a crowd-sourced fulfilment of first mile and last mile delivery. Another level up in complexity, but one even more attractive in terms of overall system efficiency, is to coordinate the simultaneous movement of people and goods. If someone is using a taxi to take them home, then the same vehicle can deliver a package to a neighbour. Coordinating putting the right package into the right vehicle in this scenario is no easy task but Volvo for one has already developed its On Call app to give access to shared vehicles and not just driverless ones. By overlaying package distribution with known customer journey plans and routes, Volvo sees that delivery companies will pay for access to cargo space, put the packages in the car and the customer would use a digital key to open the car and collect their parcel when it has arrived at its destination. Audi have already taken a different but related approach. Trials in Munich have allowed Audi owners to use their car as a shipping address for online orders. Using the Audi in-car communications system, delivery drivers track the location of the vehicle and use a one-off digital access code to unlock the boot and deliver a package. The trails to date have been in partnership with Amazon and DHL but the principle can clearly extend.

Whether in Mumbai, Shanghai, Dubai or New York, the potential is evidently one attracting much attention.