Stocchi Highlights International Mobility Connections as 2017 Theme

International Mobility Connections is IBTTA’s theme for 2017, marking Emanuela Stocchi’s year as the association’s president.

“IBTTA is a great community of men and women who have built human as well as professional relationships inspired by collaboration,” writes Stocchi, Director of International Affairs at the Associazione Italiana Società Concessionarie Autostrade e Trafori (AISCAT), in a letter to members on the IBTTA website. Her theme for the year “reflects that driving force, and draws on the continuity that I see as the strength of our association.”

In setting her priorities for the year, Stocchi says she reached back to the outstanding work of the association’s recent past presidents, drawing on their “tremendous amount of knowledge” and their “thoughtful insights about the future of our industry.”

It was a line of thought that brought her to a half-dozen key focal points that will shape IBTTA’s work in 2017:

·       Membership: Stocchi pledges support for the work of the association’s Membership Subcommittee, aimed at delivering “indispensable value” in IBTTA’s programs, products, services, and meetings. The new International Task Force is setting out to increase IBTTA’s reach around the world.

·       IBTTA Foundation: In addition to the association’s charitable good works, the Foundation will continue supporting the research and educational programs that keep the industry strong, “including a scholarship program and a portfolio of research projects to benefit the industry worldwide.”

·       Interoperability: After a six-year marathon to achieve nation-wide interoperability in the United States, Stocchi says she will continue following and support “all related interoperability issues” that affect the association and its members.

·       Platinum Sponsors Advisory Council: Based on the last two years of dialogue, Stocchi is looking forward to strategic insights from IBTTA’s Platinum sponsors (16 of them this year) on the trends that continue to shape the industry and its business environment.

·       Communication and Public Awareness: IBTTA’s public awareness campaign has covered a lot of ground over the last four years. And while its initial focus was on Capitol Hill, the association always intended to extend the message around the world. “It’s important that [the campaign] has also had an international impact, since the promotion of tolling policies and acceptance of user-financed transportation are among the highest objectives that IBTTA members around the world share,” she writes.

·       Strategic Alliances: Building on IBTTA’s successful Transportation Visioning Summit last November, Stocchi says she’s looking forward to “creating opportunities to share information, knowledge and ideas and collaborate more broadly.”

·       Meetings: With six meetings on the IBTTA calendar this year, Stocchi sees “the wider scope for learning and networking as a ‘win’ for everyone, members and prospective members alike, delivering added value that we can all bring back to our own organizations.” She’s encouraging everyone to get their passports ready to join her in her hometown, Rome, this October for the association’s annual International Summit.

Click here for a more complete snapshot of Emanuela Stocchi’s plans for an exciting and productive year for the global tolling industry.