Building a Culture of Innovation

December 4, 2019

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Contract Research with Universities and

Consultants

Mission

The mission of the North Carolina Transportation Innovation Council

(NC-TIC) is to accelerate and help scale innovation within NCDOT and the state’s surrounding transportation ecosystem by providing a platform for

innovation, programming, and guidance on policies and best

practices to ensure efficient investment in, and development and management

of, North Carolina’s transportation infrastructure. 3

Brief History• 2010 FHWA initiates “Every Day Counts”• 2011, NCDOT and FHWA established the

North Carolina Transportation Innovation Council (NC-TIC)– Co-led by

• NCDOT’s Chief Engineer and• FHWA’s NC Division Administrator

• Historically, the NC-TIC participated in three programs:– Every Day Counts (EDC) - identifies and rapidly deploys proven, yet underutilized

innovations.– STIC Incentive - provides technical assistance and up to $100,000 in total funds per

state to offset the costs of standardizing innovative practices.– Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) - provides up to a maximum of

$1,000,000 to cover the full cost of innovation in a project.4

Brief History• NC-TIC included members from the following agencies:

– NC Local Technical Assistance Program– Local Public Agencies (American Public Works Association)– MPOs (NC Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations)– RPOs (NC Association of Rural Planning Organizations)– Contractors (American Concrete Pavement Association, Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association, and

Carolinas Associated General Contractors) – Consultants (American Council of Engineering Companies)

• Currently, the Department is in the process of transforming the NC-TIC to fully comply with the mission of fostering a collaborative culture within NCDOT beyond the minimum federal guidelines.– NC-TIC site: https://connect.ncdot.gov/groups/NCSTIC/Pages/default.aspx– FHWA STIC site: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/stic/

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Restructuring NC-TIC

• New NC-TIC builds on past initiatives• Structured to expand opportunities with government, education and

industry working in partnership• Targeted leadership committees include:

• NC-TIC Executive Committee

• Advanced Technology Board Subcommittee

• NC-TIC Technical Coordination Committee

• NC-TIC Industry Advisory Council

• Executives in Residence for Innovation + Science6

Restructuring NC-TIC

• The new structure of the NC-TIC includes three work groups:

• Innovation• Academia• Industry

• Please note the following areas of focus for the NC-TIC are not new business units or staff to NCDOT, but rather the establishment of advisory committees using current staff.

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Basis of Structure

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Innovation

REBECCA J. GALLAS, P.E.

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Promoting Internal Innovation

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GOALS:• FHWA Every Day Counts• Internal Ideas Generator Program

– Rank & File Ideas (Policy Council Method)

– Millennial Leadership Academy– Leadership– Legal Team

• Data/Analytics

OI2Advisory

Committee

INCUBATE

EVALUATE

PILOT

PEFORMANCE

EXECUTE

PROCESS

FEEDBACK

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Create feedback loops within NCDOT and share the institutional knowledge.

Submissions on any topic related to NCDOT and vetted by SMEs.

These lessons/ BMPs/ideas can

be searched and shared.

This enhances communication

and helps us learn from each other.

What is CLEAR?

FHWA Innovation Programs

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7 open projects($315K total in federal funds)

1 proposed projectHarkers Island Bridge CFRP

($1M in federal funds)

8 of 10EDC-5 initiatives pursued

Academia

NEIL MASTIN, P.E.

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Pushing Boundaries with Academia

GOALS:• NCDOT University Centers of Excellence (UCEs)

– Mobility & Congestion– Future Technologies– Project Development– Safety

• USDOT UTC Partners Council• Industry Research & Development Partnerships• Academia Innovation Initiatives

– (hackathons, competitions, etc.)

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OAPAdvisory

Committee

Transportation Centers of ExcellenceOverview

Advertised this summer for $1M Centers of Excellence

All proposals included substantial HBCU Involvement

Selection made with program to begin in early 2020

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Transportation Centers of ExcellenceAwarded Programs

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ProposalNumber

Center Name Topic Area Director Lead Institution

CoE-01 North Carolina Center of Excellence on Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (NC-CAV)

Advanced Technology

Ali Karimoddini North Carolina A&T State University

Peer Institutions: NC State University / ITRE, UNC Charlotte

CoE-02 University Transportation Center of Excellence – Mobility and Congestion

Mobility and Congestion

Billy Williams North Carolina State University / ITRE

Peer Institutions: Duke University, Fayetteville State University, NC A&T, UNC-CH

CoE-04 NCDOT Center of Excellence in Advanced Transportation Technologies

Advanced Technology

Randa Radwan UNC Chapel Hill / HSRC

Peer Institutions: Appalachian State, NC Central, NC A&T, UNC Charlotte

Industry

KRISTAL HIGH TAYLOR, ESQ.

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Building Partnerships with Industry

GOALS:• Industry Information Exchanges• Minorities in Transportation Tech Initiative• Industry + Government Partners• Innovation Initiatives

– Hackathons– Competitions– Awards

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OIPAdvisory

Committee

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CATEGORY ORGANIZATION

Academia UNC Chapel HillNC State North Carolina A&TNC Community Colleges

Data Technology SASCiscoLenovo/IBMMicrosoftTransloc

Infrastructure Technology AT&TVerizon

Regional Technology Companies IBM (Red Hat)Spirit

Urban Charter (Charlotte)

NC-TIC Technology

Advisory Committee

Preeminent corporate leaders, policy

professionals, academic research partners, and

subject matter technology, and telecommunications

sectors working in concert with staff from NCDOT,

FHWA, LTAP, FTA, FRA, FAA, local public agencies,

MPOs, RPOs, and industry associations.

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INFORMATION EXCHANGES

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MINORITIES IN TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE

Questions?

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