Keynote Case Study: IRU World Congress — The Road to 2025 Becomes Intelligent + Electric

Opening the 2018 IRU World Congress in Muscat, Oman for more than 3,000 global transportation representatives, futurist Jim Carroll explored how electric autonomous vehicles would transform highways, trucking, urban transport, supply chains and logistics.

The Road to 2025 Becomes Intelligent + Electric

Transportation infrastructure was designed for human-driven, carbon-fuel vehicles. Jim’s opening keynote argued that the next system needs to be electric, autonomous, aware and hyperconnected — and challenged the global transportation industry to change its future before its future changes it.

Six trends are shaping that shift.

• Electric Vehicles. Transportation shifts away from carbon fuels as batteries become a larger part of mobility.
• Autonomous Vehicles. Vehicles increasingly take on more of the driving task, changing assumptions about roads and operations.
• Intelligent Highways. Road infrastructure gains sensing, awareness and the ability to interact with vehicles and traffic.
• Hyperconnectivity. Transportation becomes part of a continuous network of vehicles, roads, operators and data.
• Logistics Reinvention. Autonomy and connectivity reshape trucking, supply chains and the movement of goods.
• Urban Transport. Cities must rethink how mobility systems work as vehicles and infrastructure become more intelligent.

The vehicle is changing, Jim told the Congress. The road, the network and the entire transportation system must change with it.

It set the tone for a global gathering built around one question: is the system ready for what’s coming? Explore more keynote case studies.