By Michael Back

One of the many lessons learned from the ongoing global pandemic is that in times of uncertainty and chaos, community–as a social force–outperforms the individual. Slowing the spread of COVID-19 has been a group effort from the very beginning; the individualist outlook had to be tossed to the curb, fast. For many of us, this was the first time that our livelihood depended so heavily on community and collective action. Take for example, our collective commitment to buying local, which has helped keep our neighbors in business and ensured our communities continue to be.

Working together for the common good is a force to be reckoned with, no matter your industry or vocation. And while the stakes in the parking world are not life and death, they are indeed very real. Never before has the industry faced the abrupt, overnight impacts experienced in March, 2020. Through these challenges, the need to forge relationships with like-minded partners has proven invaluable when making the pivots required to innovate amid a global upheaval. Coming together has meant merging collective knowledge, learning from past missteps, and sharing relevant tools and data to better equip ourselves for the inevitable challenges that lay ahead.

Never before has health and safety been the focus in literally every single thing we do. To adapt, contactless needs to be made accessible to the grand masses–at unprecedented speed. By continuing to harness the power of collaboration, we will dream up new technologies, build revolutionary solutions, and future-proof parking for years to come for this brave new world of  “clean” consumers.

Michael Back is CEO and founder of Honk. He will present on this topic with Laurens Eckelboom, ParkHub’s chief revenue officer, at IPMI’s Mobility and Innovation Summit later this month. Click here for details and to register.