This week, Highways Voices hears ideas on how to overcome challenges in staying close to customers, adapting to their needs, and future-proofing a company portfolio.

Our guest is the CEO of SWARCO, Michael Schuch who discusses the the problems facing the industry because of differing regulation around the world, especially when it comes to adherence to patents and to carbon limits.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

Mr Schuch talks about how we must make sure that countries that produce outside Europe and want to deliver into Europe, are not having an advantage. "A mechanism was put in place called CBM - Cross Border Adjustment Mechanism," he explains. "But this mechanism only applies for certain industries, like steel like aluminium, like fertilisers and other materials, but glass is not part of it. So if you produce in Europe, you pay this tax. But if you produce outside Europe and want to import into Europe, you don't pay."

He also gives his thoughts on the issues around securing public sector funding for transportation innovation, discussing how money is often not available for major deployments after the concept has been proved: "When it is about small scale deployment, it's one thing," he says. "So putting a demo somewhere in place or a pilot in place, that's one thing - money is spent there. But when it comes to wide scale deployment, this is missing."

You'll also hear his thoughts on the importance of a customer-centric approach to innovation, as well as allowing a culture where people can get things wrong in order to get things right.

Away from the main interview, you'll hear news from our partners including LCRIG's great offer for start-ups and micro companies, and why Adrian has chosen Transport for London as the winners of his accolade this week.

Effective management of highway assets is on the agenda this week on Highways Voices.

We speak with Brightly, one of the UK’s leading providers of asset management software in the highways sector. Local authorities and contractors have been using the company’s asset management solution for over 20 years now, helping them make the correct decisions around prioritising and scheduling highway works.

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

The secret to successful and effective asset management, according to Chris Thompson, Director of Sales at Brightly, is to provide a platform that delivers as much data as possible to help inform the best possible decisions, as local authorities come under more pressure than ever to repair as many potholes as well as deliver a proactive asset management plan.

“They need access to the correct data at the time they need it. And so, through continued development over the years of Confirm, managers, budget holders and senior leaders have had the visibility that they need to make the correct decisions,” he says.

He's joined by Business Development Manager Matthew Kelley to discuss effective management of all highway infrastructure - not just the surface of the road and their thoughts on highways funding.

You’ll also hear news from our partners ADEPT, LCRIG, the TTF and ITS UK and why Cormack wins “Adrian’s Accolade” this week.

“If I speak locally, in Sussex, we have a high number of cars, of sports cars, and bikers who come to visit the coast in the weekends, for example, and there’s little doubt that the communities through which they drive really do support average speed cameras and other safety cameras to assist them to reduce both the noise and also the speed of that traffic," says Sussex Police Chief Constable Jo Shiner (pictured) on this week's Highways Voices, "But then there are others who will persistently put pictures of where the safety cameras are, whether it’s on Facebook or other social media, almost to say this is here, and almost make it ineffective.”

Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode!

The head of roads policing in the UK joins us on this week's podcast to discuss making our roads safer, and the role of technology in doing so. She also discusses a graduated driving license, eCall, and tougher sentences for drivers breaking the rules.

“If you actually compare some of the sentences that drivers who do kill people, because of their way in which they drive on the roads, versus maybe some other crimes in society, predominantly, you see that those sentences are lower,” she said. “And that’s just one example where I think families are not feeling that they do get the justice that sometimes they deserve.”

She even talks about why, when you’re driving perfectly safely and legally, if you see traffic police, for some reason you feel guilty!

You'll also hear news from our partners ADEPT, LCRIG, the TTF and ITS UK and who wins "Adrian's Accolade" this week,