Simscape Development Corporation of Charlottetown officially launched RoadSim.com today, an Internet portal dedicated to all aspects of road planning, design, construction and transport. RoadSim is targeted at professionals, students and suppliers to the industry.
Simscape President, Bob O'Rourke says, "We have married Internet technologies to highly advanced expert systems to create a 'just in time' tool for the management of road projects – from the repair of University Avenue to the building of transcontinental auto-routes. There are tools for collaboration and co-operation - from whiteboarding to Voice-over-IP (Internet telephony). By making relationship building faster, cheaper and easier, and by making key technical and commercial information available in one place, we are making it possible to work smarter. The result is competitive advantage for our users."
RoadSim.com will help in the management of all aspects of road design, building and repair, and will also be a clearinghouse for the services and products required by the road industries.
Simscape has established key alliances with Island, Canadian, U.S., and Middle Eastern firms to develop the portal, including Tom Rowe Associates of Texas. Their http://www.equipment-locator.com/ site is one of the best established and most respected heavy equipment sales sites in the world. "We work very closely with both manufacturers and construction companies," says Tom Rowe. "Our partnership with Simscape gives RoadSim.com immediate access to those parts of the industry and a vehicle for us to reach civil engineers, government departments, and policy makers. We are particularly excited by their plans for the European, Middle Eastern, and Asia markets."
Development and launch costs for the portal approach $1 million dollars.
Future plans for collaboration include development of an international auction site and the expansion of equipment sales into road haulage.
A partnership has also been developed with the Harari Organization of Israel for the co-development of internet marketing. Harari is a key player in one of the Internet's Top 200 sites. Discussions are at an advanced stage for commercial representation in the Arab world and China - two key markets.
The development of RoadSim.com has been supported by the Government of Prince Edward Island and the Industrial Research Assistance Program of the National Research Council.
Much of RoadSim's specialized content has been developed in association with the highly reputed Civil Engineering Department of the University of New Brunswick.
Provincial Minister of Development and Technology, the Honourable Michael F. Currie says, "As a former Minister of Public Works, I am well aware that Canadian road building expertise is admired worldwide. Putting that expertise on the net is exciting in its own right. Once you successfully sell your know-how, it becomes easier to sell your products and services. Road engineering is a huge international business, and RoadSim.com is building a highway into that market."
Beta-testing (the Internet term for field testing) of RoadSim.com begins this week, but specialists close to the project already know they like what they see. RoadSim.com has begun developing its sales and marketing team with two appointments last week: Chris McKinnon and Jennifer Jones, recent graduates of CompuCollege. A recruitment drive is currently under way to expand the team.
An international advertising campaign, utilizing both traditional marketing disciplines and "New Media" launches today.