A survey released by Gartner, Stamford, Conn., and conducted in partnership with Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management and Education (AWESOME), Chicago, shows sustained strong representation of women in the senior-most ranks of supply chain organizations relative to other functions.

An estimated 8.4 billion connected things were in use worldwide in 2017, up 31% percent from 2016, and will reach 20.4 billion by 2020, according to Gartner, Inc., Stamford, Conn.

Global logistics organizations are being forced to adapt to new business models to compete in an increasingly complex and volatile world.