Joseph Sudar is Iomob’s Head of North American Operations and is currently heading up our City of Tomorrow Pittsburgh Pilot.
He is a master of transport and logistics, a start-up enthusiast and a through-and-through Pittsburghian!
How did you get involved with Iomob and the City of Tomorrow Pittsburgh challenge? And how do you feel about your new role as iomob’s Head of North American Operations?
I met Boyd — the founder of Iomob — the very same way that I met my wife — on a blind date! Well, actually, Boyd and I connected through linkedin. Boyd had posted describing a project that sounded pretty interesting to me; as I was between assignments in my consulting company, I thought, let’s get involved! I didn’t already know Boyd — so it was a blind date!
In terms of my new role — honestly, I feel honored to suit up with all the super smart and talented people at Iomob. I feel that the future is ripe with opportunity in North America. The pilots in Pittsburgh, PA and Portland, OR will provide much-needed traction in the areas of feedback, product development, and product awareness. I am eager to get started on this endeavor and help the process along in any way that I possibly can. I also look forward to meeting everyone on the team I haven’t already met. I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get things done, as we say in North America!
What led you to be interested in the project? You’ve worked for a long time in logistics and transportation, what made you jump at the idea of iomob right now?
I liked the concept a lot. After talking with Boyd a little bit more about what iomob’s plans and goals were, I knew that their vision was something that really sparked my interest. Plus, they were a startup and as you can see from my resume — the last 3–4 working engagements I’ve had have been with startups. That’s what makes me get up in the morning! I was also very impressed with the iomob team. After talking to them, I got a good sense of them being hardworking and people-oriented — they really want to help other people. Their ethos fits right in with my beliefs.
What originally motivated you to work in Pittsburgh in particular?
I’m from the Pittsburgh area — I’ve lived here all my life, albeit with short stints away. But even when I was away, I always wanted to come back. That’s the thing about Pittsburghers — they always want to come back!
Why is that?
It’s the people — Pittsburgh is a very “work-ethic” type of community. People work hard and they’re just good down-to-earth people. It’s the people that make the place.
Is Pittsburgh focused on becoming a smart city or does it have other priorities?
Yes, Pittsburgh definitely wants to be a smart city. The municipality is very technology-oriented and has partnerships with organisations and universities, like Carnegie Mellon, that are at the forefront of technology-based solutions in a variety of industries. Mobility as a Service (Maas), for example, is definitely one of the areas they’re looking to develop more. So iomob fits right into Pittsburgh’s smart city vision.
Why has something like iomob not already happened in Pittsburgh?
That’s a great question — I don’t know if I have an answer. It might be because the focus so far has been on technologies like Autonomous Vehicles and their future — the ‘hot topic’ technologies, so to speak. But I personally don’t know yet if the time for this technology has come. The iomob solution is definitely really needed right now and will maybe help with the development of AV in the city as well. The time is right — the iron is in the fire and it’s hot!
Iomob’s vision relies on being able to convince individual mobility providers to join the platform. Do you already have consensus on this from different community actors?
Yes, there’s already interest, especially from mobility service providers that we’ve talked to, in addition to public transportation organisations. We’re in the process of getting all those players together to make our vision of how iomob could improve the city’s mobility come to fruition.
What are Pittsburgh current mobility challenges and how will iomob contribute to solving them?
Pittsburgh has a challenging terrain — there are a lot of hills, tunnels and bridges so there are innate physical challenges for someone who wants to get from point a to point b. In addition to this, as reflected by the ethnographic research that the City of Tomorrow Challenge carried out, there are also lots of socio-economic mobility inequalities in the city. Some of the city’s residents are very challenged when it comes to mobility — be it physically or economically. Many want to work, for instance, but it’s difficult for them to get to work because of either natural, physical or economic boundaries.
I think something like iomob.net will definitely help these people to circumvent their current mobility issues — maybe not initially during this pilot but certainly down the road.
You just have to look at Iomob’s vision to change urban mobility for the better: you have an individual, the end customer who wants to get from point a to point b but is challenged by last and first mile and perhaps other hurdles.
Iomob’s solution will optimise the parameters that they “punch in” to the app to get from a to b, give them solutions as well as service parameters that they can pick that will make their experience and journey the best it can possibly be for them personally. For me, this is produces a win-win-win situation. It is a win for the consumer because they’re going to get from point a to point b the way they want and as quickly and cheaply as possible.
It’s a win for public transport because it’s going to create more opportunities for ridership on profitable “main lines” or provide the information in the form of a data rich environment to craft new public services. Lastly it’s a win for the mobility service providers who don’t even have to use their own technology to be integrated into this system — Iomob’s app will do that for them. So overall, Iomob should both help Pittsburghers of all socioeconomic backgrounds and physical capabilities to get where they want, when they want, much more easily and it will make mobility service providers’ lives much easier too.
On a personal level, who is an inspiration to you in your work?
My parents and the way they raised me have always been my core inspirations. They were good role models — they encouraged me to work hard but also to remain family-oriented.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
There are three main pieces of advice I’ve received that have always stuck with me. One is that you need to have a good work ethic — you have to be able to work harder than the next guy when the time is called for. The second thing is that, while getting stuff done and working hard, you still have to treat others as you want to be treated. And then the third thing is that you always need to keep competing priorities in perspective. After all, there’s nobody that lies on their deathbed wishing they’d spent more time in the office!
About us:
Iomob is working to decentralize and build the Internet of Mobility, by incentivizing and facilitating the use of alternative transport. By using the blockchain, iomob plans to minimize fees and allow mobility providers and end-users alike to connect on a peer-to-peer basis. In their own words: Iomob is “a system which produces a useful output at the lowest possible marginal cost.”
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