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Toward New Horizons: Trends in Transportation and Trade
2007-11-04
The changes we have seen during the last decade of the 20th century and ones we are likely to see during the first decade of the 21st century do not merely require us to do more of the same faster. The changes made possible by information technologies have been incremental, but cumulatively they amount to a revolution in the way we must act in the world to be successful. The transformation of every institution—transportation departments, university systems, business relationships, agricultural methods and products, international trade—is serious and ongoing.This report, Toward New Horizons: Transportation and Trade—Moving the Northern Great Plains Region to a Stronger Economic Future, focuses on major trends that will shape the future of information technology, agriculture and natural resources, manufacturing, and energy and the environment. The impact of these trends on transportation is discussed in each chapter because this project focuses on the vital interrelationships among transportation and all economic sectors. At the conclusion of each chapter, recommendations are made to strengthen the economic position of the Region in light of the identified trends. It is our belief that the identified trends are real and significant, and that they will continue to have a shaping influence on economies and institutions through the first decade of the 21st century. The message of our recommendations is that, if regional business, academic and government leaders wish to be in a position to take advantage of the opportunities these trends present, they will have to actively champion policies and investments that align the Region with the direction and strength of the trends.
