2013 LBA GBC- Track IV- TRANSPORTATION/INFRASTRUCTURE

The 2013 LBA GLOBAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE
September 25th through 26th
Westin Bonaventure Los Angeles

Track IV- TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE

Transport or transportation is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another.

Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations. Transportation is important since it enables trade between people, which in turn establishes civilizations.

We depend on transportation, whether by land, air or sea for our very survival. The ability of people and goods to move across town or across the world is critical towards the availability of food, clothing, shelter and fuel, access to our jobs and schools, healthcare and our very economic vitality and quality of life.

But the staggering increases in global population, urbanization, globalization and technological innovation are driving the necessity for changes in the transportation industry and the infrastructure that supports it.

In 1950, there were 83 urban centers throughout the world with at least one million inhabitants- today there are 476, with over half of the world’s population residing within them. In the same period, international trade and manufactured goods rose from $95 billion to $12 trillion.

As we continue to move more passengers and goods than ever before, demands placed upon our infrastructure and transportation providers will likewise increase.


It is projected by 2020, there may be global demand for 7 billion passenger trips, yet the projected capacity of airports and airlines will only be able to accomodate 6 billion. The need for progress is clear and present: our transportation infrastructure and systems must become smarter, which is to say more instrumental, inter-connected and intelligent.

Transportation providers who wish to survive and thrive in the future will need to implement a smarter approach, one that enables them to accurately forecast demand and optimize capacity and assets, improve customer service and operational efficiency, all while reducing the impact upon the environment and ensuring safety and security.

Transportation is indeed playing an increasingly important role in the development of international and domestic business.

As our aging roads and bridges continue to erode and decline in their ability to handle ever-increasing demands of traffic, infrastructure becomes a critical issue in the ability of the nation to feed itself, provide needed goods to its citizens and expand into other markets.

The 2013 LBA Global Business Conference Track V. TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE seeks to examine our nation’s transportation and infrastructure systems, considering means by which they can be rebuilt and improved to meet ever-increasing demand and utilized to optimal efficiency in furthering global business development.

Sources: Wikipedia; IBM