A Glimpse of the Future

At the IPMI Leadership Summit last week in Atlantic Beach, Florida, one of our primary speakers, Kat Kibben, said something that detoured me down an unexpected path. Kat noted several things that resonated, but one statement led me to an entirely different train of thought than intended.

Kat discussed how they hate the interview question, “What do you see yourself doing in five years?” That question has taken on a whole new level of absurdity, as the last five years were something no one could have predicted. Even the best writer (fiction, sci-fi, horror…take your pick) could not have scripted our recent past and how our world has changed. Kat said, “If you could accurately predict the last five years, I need to be your friend!”

Well, in the context of Smart Cities, if I take Kat’s advice then I need to make sure that the members of the IPMI community are my friends. This group is predicting the next five years and more, and the future is as exciting as any novelist could summon.

March’s Parking & Mobility magazine issue touches on the Smart Cities concepts and how urban mobility is being reframed for the future. When you ask a member of our IPMI community where parking and mobility will be in the next five years, they have answers. And while none of us have a crystal ball, the leaders of our industry are bringing the newest innovations, concepts, products, and technologies to the table and changing the way our world thinks about parking and mobility.

This issue addresses AI, new ways for former competitors to partner and collaborate for the good of the customer, a city’s journey to virtual parking operations, and creative ways to fund mobility initiatives. We address wireless charging and the power of smart parking, and our experts talk about the most significant impacts for transit and micro-mobility in 2024.

So sit down somewhere comfortable, grab your favorite drink and snack, and buckle in for a glimpse of the future. Our friends in the IPMI community will tell us what the future holds for urban mobility, and I, for one, cannot wait to be a part of it!