Release of IDB Report on Transportation Digitalisation in Latin America
According to an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) study, the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region falls behind in digital transportation technologies, which represents a significant opportunity when it comes to boosting the sector’s economy.
Indeed, almost half of the regional transportation authorities and 27% of the private sector actors still have not developed a digital transformation strategy. This gap is a key finding of the Inter-American Development Bank study Driving Forward the Digital Transformation of Transportation in Latin America and the Caribbean, carried out in 2021 and 2022 in conjunction with the Instituto de Columbia para la Tele-información. For the report, researchers reviewed nearly 300 public, private, and academic documents; surveyed 223 transportation contractors in the region; and interviewed 96 industry leaders from all over the world, including IRF Deputy Director General, Gonzalo Alcaraz.
More specifically, Gonzalo shared insights about the work IRF is doing regarding the digitalisation of the Road Infrastructure sector, not only in the Americas but also in other parts of the world, based on the outcomes the IRF’s Connected and Autonomous Mobility Manifesto, launched in 2021. In particular, Gonzalo also shared his view on other relevant global trends such as electrification and automation, and how they will impact the road sector.
Since 2019 when most of the organisations were barely aware of the issue, the report showed that nowadays two of every three organisations have a digital transformation strategy. Nevertheless, 67% of them admit finding themselves behind the average when compared to other global leading countries.
But, how can this transformation be achieved? The study puts the accent particularly on the needed collaboration between the public and the private sector when it comes to designing and implementing these strategies. Additionally, the report highlights the need to train people in using advanced digital technologies to meet the growing demand for professionals in this area.
ORIS and AECOM Sign MOU to Collaborate On Carbon Impact Assessments for Road Designs
AECOM, the world’s trusted infrastructure consultancy firm, today announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with digital start-up ORIS to collaborate on carbon impact assessments for road designs. The organisations will pursue joint opportunities for their combined approach, with AECOM using the ORIS software to assess the carbon emissions of road projects to enable its engineers to quickly compare and quantify different design solutions and scenarios.
Under the MOU, AECOM and ORIS will also gather further insights on road pavement materials and their lifecycle carbon impacts to help clients make data-driven decisions about the sustainability performance of road pavement designs.
Supported by Artificial Intelligence, the ORIS Digital Pavement Design and Material Management Platform gathers data on locally available construction materials and international and local standards and considers factors like expected traffic and weather conditions to assess the life cycle carbon and cost impacts of different design options. It employs a unique material sourcing database, which helps link projects to locally available and recyclable materials to encourage uptake of circular economy approaches.
The disruptive technology enables AECOM to quickly measure the sustainability performance of different design scenarios during construction and maintenance. With data generated rapidly, using the software can greatly reduce the design process when compared to manually assessing different factors.
The MOU follows a successful pilot project, with AECOM working with ORIS to measure the sustainability performance of its designs for the A50 Groby Road Corridor project for Leicester City Council. Funded by the government’s Transforming Cities Fund, this road improvement project will introduce cycle lanes, new and enhanced pedestrian and cycle crossing facilities and safety improvements at a busy junction.
The digital platform generated multiple pavement scenarios that considered factors including carbon emissions, cost estimation and material consumption over the project’s 40-year service life. The outputs provided the client with a full range of carbon and cost calculations to help inform decision making about different materials and design solutions.
James Burdall, Head of Pavement Design and Asset Management, AECOM, said: “Our work with ORIS on the A50 Groby Road Corridor project allowed us to apply their disruptive technology to a live project and see firsthand the benefits it can bring. It’s a game changer for road pavement design that gives our clients a holistic view of the long-term impacts of different design options. There is huge potential to deploy this data-driven solution more widely across the roads sector and by signing an MOU with ORIS we can offer this approach to more clients, helping them make more informed decisions that will reduce the cost and carbon impacts of road schemes.”
“The ORIS team is proud and committed to accompany AECOM in their ambition to follow a disruptive approach to road structure design optimization and carbon life cycle calculations”, mentioned Nicolas Miravalls, CEO of ORIS. “Already active in 13 countries, this MOU with AECOM will support further deployment across the UK and Europe, to improve infrastructure sustainability and performance.”
McCain, Inc. now SWARCO McCain, Inc.
SWARCO’s Californian affiliate moves under the SWARCO umbrella brand
Effective 16 August 2022, the well-known Californian traffic technology provider McCain, Inc. has been renamed SWARCO McCain, Inc. With this formal step, the Austrian-headquartered SWARCO AG consequently follows its branding strategy of ONE SWARCO, anchoring the brand name also in the legal entity’s name.
It was in 2016 when McCain, Inc. became a part of the SWARCO Family. Since then, McCain has helped SWARCO in becoming a major player in the U.S. ITS market with competent people, reliable technologies, and significant contributions to the Group’s revenue statement.
“We had decided to wait with any rebranding because the McCain brand was much better established in the U.S. ITS market than SWARCO”, SWARCO CEO Michael Schuch remembers. “Now, six years later and following the acquisition of Dynniq Mobility meanwhile rebranded SWARCO, we have evolved into the leading global player in the ITS industry. Following thorough deliberations, we think it is now time to proceed with the rebranding of our U.S. ITS affiliate by naming the company SWARCO McCain, Inc.”, says Schuch.
Carl McCollum, Vice President SWARCO McCain, Inc., adds: “With this step, we underline McCain’s belonging to SWARCO but at the same time keep it recognizable for our American customers as a well-established brand with high quality products and solutions. The entire SWARCO world is proud of having a family member in California and Mexico. And SWARCO McCain, Inc. benefits from SWARCO’s global reach, its values, its business network and its access to leading hardware and software products and solutions”, McCollum sees the advantages of this name change.
SWARCO McCain, Inc. from now on highlights the SWARCO logo and the claim “The Better Way. Every Day.” In this way, the company continues to be a very strong pillar in SWARCO’s corporate identity and a competent product and solution provider to manage traffic in the 21st century. The company will debut its new name at the ITS World Congress at the Los Angeles Convention Center, September 18-22, 2022, where visitors will find McCain product lines and know-how exclusively in SWARCO booth #1139.
