SPOKANE, Washington — According to Matthew Garrett, director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, technology is rapidly changing all aspects of public and private sector operations.
And the speed of change is expected to increase soon, so state DOTs need to ready themselves for both the “challenges and opportunities” that level of change will present them and their constituents.
During the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) 2018 Joint Policy Committee meeting on July 17, he said that this is the most interesting and creative time in the human world; a time of rapidly accelerating change and they need to look no farther than technology to see its impact.
“Technology threatens to remake every aspect of every company and industry that we deal with,” he stressed.” So, you must ask yourself these questions – what do you foresee the most significant challenge to retraining workers for the new jobs of this brave new world? Is the private sector focused on that challenge? Is our educational system, which is built around four-year degrees up to the challenge in a world that needs continuous training?”
Garrett said that this movement forward “can be exciting and refreshing” and lead to new ways of doing business. “But it also demands that we must adapt and support a culture that’s reimagining our work structure and learning platforms, that’s moving to continual education training and retraining across all portfolios within a state DOT.”
“There is huge amount of change going on across the board” in the environmental sector added Tim Hill, environmental services administrator for the Ohio Department of Transportation and vice chair of the committee.
“It’s a very exciting time to be in environmental and change is coming from every angle,” Hill said. “Our view is if one state having an issue, most likely other states are as well. So now we need to decide, is this the right time to push forward a change? Do we have the right examples and support in Congress to make a push for a change?”
Oregon DOT’s Garrett noted in his remarks that the use of more sophisticated technological tools “potentially offers an opportunity to refine, but not dismantle,” environmental regulatory safeguards.
“We seek efficiency and improve outcomes at lowest possible burden – that is our charge,” he stressed. “The ‘simple push’ is that we support the environment and also support streamline regulatory processes.”
Garrett also emphasized that in facing this “brave new world of change” it is time for state DOTs to “lace up, lean in, and know you are advancing the practice of transportation for this nation.”
