By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE

“Research: the distance between an idea and its realization.” -David Sarnoff, founder, Radio Corporation of America (RCA)

I’ve had the good fortune to be involved with IPMI’s Research & Innovation Task Force (formerly the Research Committee) for quite some time now. As a co-chair of that group, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds in our industry and help progress some interesting initiatives that attempted to quantify the size of our industry and position our members with critical information around prevailing topics driving the transportation world. These topics have covered everything from sustainability, efficiency, electrification, mobility, and the ever-evolving curb management realm. All of these topics began as questions or ideas that were no more than a seed to cultivate.

More than a decade ago, the industry defined curb management as one of the primary topics we needed to explore further. During that time, we’ve gone from focusing on the parked car to defining how space at the curb needs to intersect with community needs and support more than storing vehicles. And this is apparent as cities have adapted practices to include active space, business supportive measures, and community-centric practices to enrich the lives of everyone who interacts in that realm.

The seed for that research was defined in an IPMI trends survey by our members and has been cultivated by not only the research arm of our industry, but also several other committees whose members aim to help define new information for our members. That’s why we need your help now as IPMI embarks on another trends survey. We are at an interesting crossroads that will be shaped by how resilient and responsive we are the next few years. And defining what we as an industry find valuable for further investigation starts with your input now. We can’t truly recognize our potential unless we plant the seeds now.

Take IPMI’s 2021 Market Trends & Recovery Survey here.

Brett Wood, CAPP, PE, is president of Wood Solutions Group and co-chair of IPMI’s Research & Innovation Task Force.