Volpe Center Highlights - July 1999
Director's Notes
Director's Notes |
Focus |
Safety |
Mobility |
Human and Natural Environment |
Economic Growth and Trade |
National Security |
Published and Presented
The Spirit of Innovation in Transportation Conference addressed the opportunities for innovation in the next century and the most promising new technologies. The Conference brought forth a number of clear messages:
- The capacity to transform new knowledge and ideas into new products, processes and services is a top priority in both the public and commercial sectors. The process of innovation is at the heart of the linkage between the emergence of new technologies and the realization of their potential for enhancing economic growth and the public good.
- To ensure continuing and sustainable innovation in a period of rapid technological change, it is essential to have the operators and users of the transportation enterprise embrace the new concepts and technologies. The rate of technological change is much greater than the rate at which new technologies and concepts can be absorbed.
- The research and development paradigm must change from one focused on the development of new technologies to one equally focused on the diffusion of new technologies into the system. Ongoing activities, such as the Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Futures Program, for developing the next generation of transportation professionals, and the Intelligent Transportation System Professional Capacity Development Program, are outstanding examples of the tools needed for the necessary technology diffusion.
By holding forums such as this one, in which we act as a bridge between the technology and transportation communities, the Volpe Center is becoming increasingly recognized, both inside and outside of the government, as having a vital leadership role in ensuring a continuing and sustainable innovation climate for the transportation enterprise. We are making a difference.
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