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Posted: 10/21/21

TAMIU Signs Border Logistical Data Sharing, Data Analysis Agreement with Texas A&M Transportation Institute

 

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Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) recently signed a transformative agreement with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), which will allow the two institutions to collaborate and share border logistical data that will aid the Laredo logistics trade community.

On hand to sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) at TAMIU were TAMIU president Dr. Pablo Arenaz, signing on behalf of TAMIU A. R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business' Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development (TCBEED), and Juan Villa, TTI regional manager for Latin America.

Also present at the signing were Dr. Daniel Covarrubias, TCBEED director, and María Eugenia Calderón-Porter, TAMIU assistant vice president for the Office of Global Initiatives.

The MOA will launch a cooperative program for collaborative data sharing, data analysis, and research programs between two Texas A&M University System members, TAMIU, on behalf of its TCBEED, and TTI, said Dr. Covarrubias.

"Our local trade community has tasked the TCBEED with providing timely access to current data and analysis that will permit them to make better-informed decisions," Dr. Covarrubias said, "Because of this, the TCBEED is partnering with TTI to bring its data gathering and project development expertise and TCBEED data analysis and visualizations to produce more accurate data representations to the trade community."

Also of interest to both signing parties is LOGISTECHS, a concept recently coined by TAMIU, Covarrubias said.

"The term represents the exponential technologies' impact on logistics and can be identified as those technologies that support the transport of goods, improve their handling, and expedite their customs clearance," Covarrubias explained.

As an example of types of data that will be shared between the two parties, Covarrubias mentioned data captured by sensors located within the World Trade Bridge and other border crossings,

"The TTI has located several radio-frequency identification (RFID) sensors on both sides of the border within the World Trade Bridge," he said, "The data gathered by these sensors permits them to publish border wait times for commercial trucks."

Covarrubias continued, "The TCBEED has been working with these data sets to better analyze why border wait time peaks are happening and cross-reference this information with other data sets that we have. This presents a more accurate portrayal of commercial truck traffic and border wait times, all of which impact our port's competitiveness."

After the MOA signing, the parties met with the local trade community to inform them of the Agreement and the kind of collaboration it can produce, Covarrubias said.

"This meeting also served as an opportunity to assess different projects in which we can participate together. The first is a web-based dashboard that will permit the visualization in real-time of different border-crossing indicators, such as wait times, environmental emissions, open lanes and traffic flow maps, " he said.

Located in TAMIU's Anthony J. and Georgia A. Pellegrino Hall, the TCBEED provides leadership and support to South Texas border communities in their economic development efforts, including activities in the areas of business development, education, health care, public administration, and the environment.

The TTI is an agency of the State of Texas and a member of The Texas A&M University System. For 70 years, it has addressed complex transportation challenges and opportunities with innovation, objectivity and unmatched technical expertise. A diverse, interconnected group of 700 professionals, students and support staff from 38 different countries, TTI staff members are recognized state, national and international leaders.

For more information, please contact Covarrubias at 956.326.2620, email dcova@tamiu.edu or visit http://texascenter.tamiu.edu/

dTCBEED AgreementTAMIU and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) recently signed an agreement which will allow the two institutions to collaborate and share border logistical data to aid the Laredo logistics trade community. Pictured from left to right are Dr. Daniel Covarrubias, director, TAMIU A. R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business' Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development; TAMIU President Dr. Pablo Arenaz; Juan Villa, TTI regional manager for Latin America, and María Eugenia Calderón-Porter, TAMIU assistant vice president for the Office of Global Initiatives.