What will the future of mobility and logistics look like? What digital solutions will make transportation easier? We’ll find out in less than one year’s time at the ITS World Congress. From 11 to 15 October 2021, Hamburg will host the world’s largest convention on intelligent transport systems and services. The sector’s top minds will present their ideas for the future of mobility in the conference halls of the freshly renovated CCH and selected public spaces.

‘The Congress is ERTICO’s most powerful tool to connect people, processes, data to revolutionise world cities and communities and raise awareness amongst us all: policy makers, experts and the public alike’, says Jacob Bangsgaard, ERTICO’s CEO. ‘ERTICO and the City of Hamburg are proud to offer such an occasion to learn, network and share solutions and ideas to bring us one step closer to smarter, user-friendly and more sustainable mobility, with a focus on digital as a key enabler to achieve the green transition and ensure the human-centric development of Artificial Intelligence.’

Hamburg to present more than 40 selected projects

The Hanseatic City will take a leading role in the area of digitalisation of mobility and logistics, presenting more than 40 of its some 150 ITS projects. ‘The ITS World Congress comes at just the right time. Hamburg is undergoing the mobility transition and using intelligent concepts to create a sustainable and connected transport system,’ says Anjes Tjarks, Hamburg’s Senator for Transport and Mobility Transition. ‘Our aim is to design a city with cleaner air, fewer traffic jams and higher quality of life. To do this, we need the creative solutions that established companies and start-ups are developing all over the city. Aside from hosting the Congress itself, the people of Hamburg will benefit greatly from the 150 ITS projects being implemented in our city, such as the HEAT autonomous shuttle bus in the HafenCity area.’

The motto: Experience Future Mobility Now

The conference’s theme, Experience Future Mobility Now, matches the mission and vision Hamburg has already been embracing for the last few years, since the adoption of its ITS Strategy in 2016. Hamburg has been using AI and other digital technologies to improve traffic flow, as well as engaging in several ITS initiatives with the goal of achieving ‘smart city’ status by 2050. The ITS World Congress focuses on the following key areas:

  • Automated, cooperative and connected mobility: the transition from human drivers to autonomous cars, buses and trains
  • Mobility services (mobility as a service and mobility on demand): combining a number of mobility services (such as taxis, bicycle hire, e-scooters, public transport) into a single service, and the development of new mobility applications
  • Digital port and logistics solutions: based on the example of Hamburg as Germany’s largest and Europe’s third-largest container port
  • Intelligent infrastructure: optimisation of infrastructure using artificial intelligence to improve traffic flow and make it more sustainable
  • New services based on new technologies, such as the use of unmanned drones
  • Sustainable solutions for cities and citizens: developing an ecologically sustainable and energy-efficient mobility system.

Alliance of Hamburg-based companies and institutions

Strategic partners have teamed up with the city to form an alliance that aims to make the future of mobility tangible and understandable for citizens. Their objective is to create a platform that will enable Hamburg companies to share and implement their ideas and schemes. Partner companies within the alliance will host a number of informational events for citizens before and during the Congress.

New talent

The Young Mobility Community is giving the next generation of young citizens the opportunity to help shape the future of mobility. At the heart of the project lies the @itsyoungmobility Instagram account and #itsyoungmobility hashtag.


Video interviews and podcasts

Video interviews on the topics to be covered by the Congress are currently in production and available on the ITS website and the ITS YouTube channel. These will feature specialists from the worlds of science, politics and business and new talents from Hamburg’s schools and universities have a say as well. In the first episode, host and ITS Managing Director Harry Evers and a Hamburg high school graduate speak with Hamburg’s Senator for Transport and Mobility Transition, Anjes Tjarks. The interviews will also be released as podcasts on a variety of platforms.

For more information, please visit https://itsworldcongress.com/downloads/