Little Rock-based Roadway Management Technologies has received a $50,000 Technology Development Program award through the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Division of Science and Technology. The company will use the funding for onboarding the personnel required to develop their integrated software solution.
The Opportunity
“Our idea stemmed from a growing awareness of the lack of funding available for infrastructure preservation and development across the country. Because our technology is based on big data collected through crowd-sourcing, we’re able to provide powerful information at a fraction of the cost of older infrastructure-based technology,” said Doug Hungerford, Roadway Management Technologies’ (RMT) chief operating officer.
The Solution
“We’re developing the first truly integrated technological solution to help address our infrastructure crisis across the county. We’ve restructured the way that local governments survey their road quality, allowing them to target tax-dollar spending based on objective, real-time information. By combining our proprietary survey technology with powerful, easy-to-use work order, data and fleet tracking in an affordable cloud-based platform, we’re able to ease some of the burden and increase efficiency across public works and street departments here in Arkansas and across the nation,” said Candler McCollum, chief executive officer.
Benefits to Users
RMT’s technology is utilized specifically by governmental departments, but the benefits are seen by everyone from city and county workers to everyday citizens.
“Our primary goal is to ensure that tax dollars are spent in the most efficient manner possible, meaning we’re able to increase the resources that cities and counties can target towards infrastructure repair and maintenance. By improving and preserving our infrastructure, we’re also able to benefit the businesses and citizens that rely on our infrastructure every day,” said McCollum.
This technology helps officials develop plans of action based on current road data. “We use machine learning in our road analyses, meaning our system learns about factors that affect a specific city or county’s road degradation over time, such as pavement type, climate, traffic volumes, and current condition. This information allows officials to make real-time informed decisions when addressing and budgeting for infrastructure issues both in the short and the long-term,” said Hungerford.
ASBTDC Assistance
The RMT team worked with the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center to explore the TDP opportunity.
“Rebecca Todd of the ASBTDC was instrumental in assisting with our exploration and response to the TDP funding opportunity. Rebecca introduced us to the opportunity, and she was available and willing to help during every step of the application and presentation process,” said McCollum.
“Our biggest piece of advice for new TDP applicants would be utilize the resources that the state has set up for you – go introduce yourselves to the helpful folks at the Procurement Technical Assistance Center and the ASBTDC. They’re well-equipped to inform you of the opportunities available, and the guidance that they offer as you navigate the application and presentation process is invaluable,” Hungerford said.
What’s Next?
“We’re currently bringing on developers to assist with future additions to our platform, and each one of these additions will push us closer to our next development milestone. We’ve got more groundbreaking ideas in the works, and the TDP award allows us to start turning those ideas into tangible assets to benefit local governments across the country,” said Hungerford.
Arkansas Impact
“By receiving TDP funds up front, we’re able to start bringing on these developers quicker than we would be able to with revenue alone. With funding available, we’re able to scale at a much quicker pace, which allows us to create more high-paying jobs in the Arkansas tech sector,” said McCollum.