Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/634023
February 2016 | EquipmentWorld.com 12 reporter | by Equipment World staff T he Association of Equipment Manufactur- ers (AEM) has kicked off its Infrastructure Vision 2050 Challenge, offering $150,000 in prizes for "innovative ideas to overhaul the crum- bling infrastructure that Americans rely on to move people, materials, products, services and informa- tion." The competition, which is open to anyone, is broken into three phases: • The Complain Phase (deadline March 15), aimed at engaging the public to describe the biggest infrastructure problems facing their respective communities. The win- ner will receive $2,500, and ten fi nalists will receive $250 apiece. • The Dream Phase (deadline May 31) is designed to solicit new ideas, particularly from non-experts. There will be fi ve winners in this category, each receiving $9,000. • The Build Phase, with a to-be-determined launch and deadline, will solicit implemen- tation plans based on the winning solutions in the Dream Phase. The grand prize: $100,000. AEM is using the HeroX crowdsourcing model for the competition, which is focused on the concept that everyday people, with great ideas, can change the world for the better. "We need to engage innovators who we haven't heard from before and who have the ability to imagine how people, freight, energy and information will move in the country of tomorrow – even as far out as the year 2050," says Dennis Slater, AEM president. –Wayne Grayson $150K in prizes at stake for AEM's Infrastructure Vision 2050 Challenge (continued from page 11) be increasing their IT expenditures this year over last, and 42 percent said that they intend to implement an IT plan this year. Smart phones and tablets are the most popular route for doing this, with 83 percent of those sur- veyed indicating mobile devices as their choice when managing projects outside of their tradi- tional market areas. Respondents said they plan to use mobile software technology in a number of ways, including submitting daily fi eld reports (76 percent), accessing customer and job infor- mation from the fi eld (68 percent) and sharing drawings, photos and documents (67 percent). –Wayne Grayson Source: AGC How contractors plan to use mobile software technology: