Founder's Statement
Why Have We Created OnTrackNorthAmerica?
“Whenever I hear that we need a national dialogue, as in, we need a national dialogue on gun control, police reform, or voter rights, I wonder, where exactly would we have that dialogue? In the newspapers, on social media, in our courts? These venues are ill-suited for substantive national dialogues.” - Michael Sussman
This absence cripples our public policy—and our industrial systems. Industrial sectors operate as fragmented silos pursuing conflicting goals. Industrial development becomes isolated projects rather than integrated systems. Climate disruption and supply chain failures demand we redesign these systems for profitability and sustainability.
These challenges require collaboration across all stakeholders. OTNA brings together industry, government, academia, and communities for whole systems planning. We do this through Industrial Systems Initiatives, using IntelliConferences® and IntelliSynthesis®.
The missing ingredient isn't intelligence—it's infrastructure for collaboration. We have lacked a framework for building solutions without being derailed by competition and mistrust. Over thirty years working with thousands of stakeholders, we developed IntelliSynthesis to synthesize stakeholder knowledge into smart policies and investments.
Most assume that limiting stakeholder input speeds solutions. We've found the opposite: addressing all system elements builds consensus faster and reveals solutions that narrow approaches miss. The more we examine system interactions, the more we turn them into positive synergies.
Our transportation networks illustrate exactly why this systems approach matters. Consider how transportation has typically been planned, or more accurately, not planned. Supply chains have evolved as a chaotic response to shippers' and developers' site choices made without regard to transportation impacts. COVID-19 exposed supply chain gaps. The response was massive infrastructure investment. Unfortunately, this capital continues to be allotted for individual competing projects while serious system inefficiencies remain. Despite railroad's ability to move freight using one-third the fuel and producing one-third the emissions of trucks, we continue to stimulate highway-centric development while leaving railroads' energy, space, and capital efficiencies underutilized.
The root problem is structural. Stakeholders operate in a competitive and, in some cases, monopolistic mode, neither of which allows for the collaboration needed for rail development and supply chain efficiency. To create sustainable, multimodal industrial systems, we must shift toward integrated planning of supply chains, land use, and transportation.
"Yes, a profound shift is necessary—and urgent. We live in a critical moment of potential environmental collapse alongside the need to expand economic opportunity. Redesigning industrial systems will deliver both environmental and economic sustainability. Join us to build industrial systems that match our intelligence!” -Michael Sussman
