Kansas City-based Integrated Roadways landed a spot on Fast Company’s “Next Big Things in Tech 2022” ranking, which highlights the breakthroughs shaping the future of multiple industries.
The local digital infrastructure company was featured in the “small and mighty category.” Founded in 2012, Integrated Roadways developed its Smart Pavement system embedded with sensors and technology that can track real-time traffic and vehicle data, which can be used to help cities, businesses and real estate developers make smarter, data-driven decisions.
“Some of the most significant innovations come from small organizations focused on solving big, persistent problems. These companies have fewer than 50 employees, but are taking on challenges, such as making AI more fair and transparent and creating a fast, reusable COVID-19 test,” Fast Company said.
The recognition is a reminder of how mindsets have shifted about smart roads and digital infrastructure. Even several years ago, when Integrated Roadways pitched smart roads, “nobody had any idea what we were talking about,” Integrated Roadways founder and CEO Tim Sylvester said.
“Now, it’s a common topic,” he said. “It’s great seeing people realize that it’s time for infrastructure for the next generation.”
Integrated Roadways' system allows electric vehicles to wirelessly charge as they’re driven down the road and can provide assisted autonomy to autonomous and connected vehicles. It also can provide WiFi, 5G, Bluetooth and edge computing services.
“We need to desperately rebuild American infrastructure. It is in poor shape,” Sylvester said.
About half of the nation’s roadway structure needs to be replaced, and President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill is only a drop in the bucket, he said.
“If we could afford to do it, it would already be done,” Sylvester said. “It shows we can’t do it the old way that our great-great-grandparents came up with 100 years ago.”
The future is smart roadways. Integrated Roadways’ system can help municipalities and other stakeholders fund road improvements by leveraging commercial demand for the road’s connected services, such as data collection and becoming a wireless internet service provider to area businesses. The company’s prefabricated, modular concrete road sections also are faster to construct than traditional methods and can be removed easily for utility access without tearing up the street.
Sylvester thinks the Fast Company recognition could lead to new customers. Integrated Roadways already is working on projects in places such as Lenexa and multiple states, including Texas, California and Michigan. Demand is so high, frequently from inbound interest, that Integrated Roadways must be selective about the projects it takes on.
Its 10-year pilot project with Lenexa marks it first big commercial installation that will provide services to businesses and the general public.
“I think it’s going to be enormous — not just for us, but for the city and the digital infrastructure industry,” Sylvester said. “That next-generation mobility needs network services, just like computers benefited from the internet. The idea that connected electric and autonomous vehicles could somehow be widely adopted without any sort of network infrastructure to support them — I always thought that was an obvious gap. Now it seems like everybody else is starting to recognize that we need the infrastructure just as much as we need the devices.”
