요약

Transport is a fundamental part of every nation’s economy, allowing people to travel to and from work, and ensuring that goods and services are effectively delivered. Since the early 1960s, the transport infrastructures of many nations in the world have been formulated around personal vehicles and expanding road infrastructures. This has often come at the expense  of public transport services such as railways, and  severely congested roads have been the result. 

At the same time, rising relative prosperity and a variety of new service models in air travel have meant that people are often travelling more, and over longer distances. Transport and Logistics are now responsible for up to 40% of air pollution, and regulation is being implemented to reduce transport’s impact on CO2, NOx and other emissions. The transport infrastructures of many nations are now coming under significant and multiple pressures due to urbanization, rising global populations and environmental challenges. The manner in which transportation is ‘delivered’ needs to be transformed.

ICT plays both a fundamental and a transformative role in the industry today. In fact, the use of technology may be as effective as doubling or tripling the physical road capacity in some cities. Digital technologies, from modern control systems to sensor technologies, can create more capacity without requiring additional physical infrastructure. In a situation where more and more land in cities is lost to road building and other types of transport infrastructure, this can avoid major costs associated with building new infrastructure.

ICT has a critical role to play in facing these challenges and, with proper implementation, may help to significantly reduce congestion. Well-established concepts such as Intelligent Transport Systems are only one part of the ICT picture as integration between various parts of transport infrastructure becomes a competitive advantage for companies, cities and nations.  Other examples include:

>  Embedded technology to create connected cars and integrate them into the transport infrastructure

>  Streamlined project management tools that enable better use of workforce on construction sites and dramatically reduce the costs of getting transport infrastructure up and running

>  Increased use of sensors and other technologies  to enhance understanding of maintenance and wear and tear of transport infrastructure

In addition, ICT is already having a transformational impact on the transport industry, destroying existing relationships between actors in the value chain and creating space for new entrants. Such applications of ICT have led to the emergence of several new organizational forms, which allow for the creation of dynamic, strategic networks among individuals and small firms. As subsequent reports will illustrate, these organizational forms repeat across the emerging “Networked Society” and represent a fundamental shift in how  our world is organized