Intelligent Transportation and the Cloud

AWS recently participated in the ITS America annual conference in San Jose, California.  At the conference, thought leaders and decision makers from both the private and public sector gather to discuss challenges, innovation, safety, policy, and best practices in transportation across the country.

ITS America is an advocate for today’s leading industries—helping to marry tech and transportation.  ITS America is working to advance safety, efficiency and sustainability, as well as putting transportation at the center of the Internet of Things (IoT).

The conference centered around three themes: Wheels & Things, Infrastructure of Things, and Show Me the Money!

• Wheels & Things – focused on all of the “things” using, altering, or creating new intelligent transportation systems and technologies.
• Infrastructure of Things – focused on all of the “stuff” that “wheels and things” interact with.  From physical hardware like lights, poles, signs, and intersections to the network backbone, this theme addressed what the future of traffic management will look like leveraging cloud and smart transportation technologies of the future.
• Show Me the Money – focused on what the future of intelligent transportation’s back end will look like, as well as new business models.  This included the evolving trend away from CapEx to OpEx and the collaboration taking place between the private and public sectors today.

Key Takeaways

Transportation is more than concrete and steel – Former Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater participated in a Q&A and explained that transportation is more than the physical infrastructure of concrete and steel.  Instead, it is what connects us to each other and to the world.  Having smart, safe and reliable transportation available to the masses is what will drive opportunity and equal access throughout the country.

Sensors, data and the internet of things – Today, every government asset is a sensor, and data is what makes a city “smart.” Cloud technology enables cities to collect, store, and analyze data of all kinds. The insights that can be derived through this analysis are limitless, helping cities identify gaps, issues, and trends that will help them deploy their resources more effectively and focus on their mission.

Frank DiGiammarino, Director, AWS State and Local Government, Amazon Web Services delivered the closing keynote and spoke to how cloud technology is enabling the future of smart transportation.  The keynote highlighted smart transportation solutions born in the cloud, such as smart parking, connected intersections, smart routing, fleet monitoring, and connected vehicles. These solutions are important across both the private and public sector because infrastructure is critical to economic growth.  Just as traditional infrastructure was the catalyst for growth in the 20th century, cloud and digital technology will be the catalyst for the 21st century. The keynote closed with the question “What mission are you going to take on?”  There are so many problems to solve and so many cool things that we can do. What will your contribution be to the future of our country’s transportation?  Together we will make a difference.

We are excited to continue to support transportation initiatives and power the innovations and technologies of tomorrow. For more information, check out AWS and Transportation and ITSAmerica2016.org.