IWCE 2023: Telecommunications technology expo highlights city solutions like smart pavement

Time is marching on and so is telecommunications technology — these days, at a breakneck pace. The IWCE 2023 exposition in Las Vegas, Nev. this week highlighted tech-forward city solutions like smart streetlights, city-wide networks, 5G, satellites, and roadways that can wirelessly charge electric vehicles speeding along at 65 miles per hour.

“Modular, prefab infrastructure as a Lego kit with tech inside,” explained Tim Sylvester about the smart pavement solution his company, Integrated Roadways, was showcasing at the expo. “They act as hosting locations for civic tech of all sorts.”

That tech includes wireless vehicle charging technology, fiber optic cables, smart city edge servers, and various types of sensors including those to detect weather and direct autonomously driving cars, among other devices.

Beyond the next-generation tech embedded in the smart pavement, Sylvester’s company advocates for public-private partnerships that would turn public roadways into utilities. Traditionally, their maintenance costs are covered by the taxpayers who use them. But if they became networks for profitable technologies like fiber optic cables and sensors, their upkeep could be assured via pavement lease agreements managed by public-private partnerships.

“Roadways are civic real estate, but they’re completely undeveloped. We’re turning the road into digital real estate, and we’re hosting digital tenants,” Sylvester said. “The commercial revenue subsidizes the roadway. This becomes a no-cost solution for the drivers.”

The Missouri-based Integrated Roadways’ booth was one of more than 300 venders at the event, which was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center and drew about 5,000 registrants hailing mostly from public safety-related organizations and telecommunications technology businesses.

“We have a real niche market,” said Kevin Garmong, vice president of Pepro, which manufactures hardened enclosures designed to protect delicate telecommunications infrastructure. He was standing alongside the company’s Faraday Cage, a mobile box that can withstand lightning strikes, electromagnetic pulses and various types of interference.

“They can be towed up into the mountains or wherever they’re needed, or flown in,” Garmong said. Given the prevalence of wildfire and other incidents that require deployed telecommunications solutions into remote locations, the bulk of their clients are based in the West, Garmong said. Pepro, which was founded 28 years ago, is based in Oil City, Pa.

The annual exposition provides the business with an opportunity to connect with clients representing regional public safety agencies in the West that could put their enclosures to good use.

“We get a lot of people checking out new products,” said Garmong, noting they’ve attended off and on for two decades. “It’s a great show for us.”

The expo started Monday and ended Thursday, featuring discussions and panel sessions on topics ranging from smart cities to satellites. Keynote speakers included David Michael, who is organizing the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games, Billy Bob Brown Jr. of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Winston Beauchamp, deputy chief information officer for the U.S. Department of the Air Force, among other notable industry experts.

During the many session discussions, panelists addressed topics including how telecommunications technology can be used to support future innovations.

“How can we make our country cleaner and more green? It turns out this is a huge opportunity, both from a commercial perspective and from quality of life,” said Robert Finch, of Select Spectrum, during a panel session titled “Smart Use Cases: Streetlights, Gunshot Location, Greenhouse Gas Monitoring.” Technology, he continued, has the potential to transform communities. As cities and counties bring more devices online, unlicensed networks are getting more use than ever. To avoid interference and cybersecurity issues, Finch suggested investing in a licensed spectrum frequency specifically designed for a city-wide network.

“The gold standard is licensed spectrum. It’s an advantage to have your own to avoid interference,” he said, noting it’s not expensive to purchase devices with frequency-specific chips. Another panelist, Jey Wey, general manager of Ubiik, which develops low power network communication systems, highlighted the scalability of private networks.

“Once these networks get built, it will be exciting to see the kind of applications that come online,” Wey said. Use cases mentioned by the panelists included sensors to improve air quality and reduce congestion, detect gas and gunshots, smart meters and streetlights, and wearable devices with GPS and biometric sensors for first responders.

“The opportunities are significant … to develop applications that allow your cities to run more efficiently,” Finch said. “And generally, from what we’ve seen, once the network is up,” use cases follow.

Next year’s IWCE Expo will be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., from March 25 to March 28, 2024. For more information, visit IWCEexpo.com.