Technology to manage car parking has gone from coin meters to some of the most sophisticated gadgetry there is, much of it led by a company based at Cambridge in Waikato.
The company, Smart Parking, has grown from an idea dreamt up in a garage, to a company now employing up to 600 people worldwide.
Smart Parking provides tools to make parking easier at shopping centres, showing when and where an available parking space is, through to managing and enforcing parking zones, all using the latest sensor technology.
Its commercial manager, Jake Bezzant, says the company has grown quickly since the company was started eight years.
Smart Parking says it believes that, within 10 years, the parking industry worldwide could be worth anywhere between $1 billion and $40 billion and it's keen to retain its spot as a world leader.
Mr Bezzant says the company has many things in its favour, including Kiwi ingenuity and constantly changing technology keeps staff on their toes.
He says Smart Parking is likely to stick to its core business but isn't ruling out diversifying within the industry.
