ERTICO asks Rachel Boyer Head of Membership Affairs and Communications and with ERTICO since 1996 about her thoughts on her time here and her plans for the future…
Rachel after 14 years with ERTICO what do you consider the most important achievements of the ERTICO partnership within this time period?
ERTICO would not exist without its Partners. Much of our daily work is understanding Partners’ needs and expectations and providing the best value for membership. That means using their skills and expertise in the projects we coordinate developing their ideas in public-private partnership supporting their businesses connecting them to other ITS sectors and promoting their successes. ERTICO is unique as it can offer multi-sector opportunities where consensus on the current ITS issues can be built and concrete results achieved.
ERTICO’s activities are driven by a clear focus on the ITS market and the needs of its Partners. Some of the important achievements for ERTICO and its Partners over the years for me include:
- The development of a twenty year vision for the market evolution of ITS services revealed at the Berlin ITS World Congress in 1997 – now more than 10 years later some of these services are already being deployed
- The introduction of Partner-led fora such as the ADASIS Forum and the TMC Forum (Traffic Message Channel) which has grown into the Traveller Information Services Association with over 90 members: TMC is deployed in Europe as well as in other continents and can be considered one of the success stories of ERTICO!
- EU-China cooperation – which became a model for future ITS cooperation with emerging countries
- ISO certification of internal structure and procedures assuring quality and transparency
- The ITS City Pioneer project which presented real ITS benefits for the city environment road network public transport operators and travellers by developing a guidebook to ITS an ITS Planning Handbook and an ITS Toolbox
- The eSafety Initiative launched by ERTICO ACEA and the European Comission bringing together all ITS stakeholders with the goal of reducing the number of road fatalities in Europe through the introduction of advanced technologies – and especially the eCall MoU
- The PReVENT exhibition and demonstration in Versailles in 2007 – which gave high level participants the opportunity to see ITS in action
- The ITS World and European Congresses which give ERTICO its Partners and the ITS Community a platform to showcase their ITS services and products and learn from each other
- Establishing cooperation with the National ITS Associations through the ERTICO-hosted Network
- Strong links with the European Commission and their support of our activities
- ITS Workshops in the European Parliament – moving closer to the policy decision makers
- Developing a professional website and information exchange platform to provide more visibility and promotion opportunities for the ERTICO Partners and ITS community
- Developing the Eddie cartoon which has helped to make ITS concepts more understandable to the general public
ERTICO has grown from strength to strength over the years because of the rich variety of its membership and its dedicated team. ITS has also come a long way – from the focus on embedded systems in the vehicle to connecting the traveller with all the information he/she needs to make the right choices!
What are your plans?
After 15 ½ years in Belgium my husband and I have decided to move to France during the summer of 2010 with our three boys Mathieu (10) Jonathan (7) and Timothée (nearly 1). We are embarking on a great adventure as a family with this move and our main motivation is to be able to work with a local Christian church community in Marseille. I would also like to dedicate more time to raising my family.
What do you believe are the most important challenges for your successor?
- Maintaining a stable membership with active Partners and attracting new Partners to make ERTICO even stronger
- Turning ERTICO Partners into ambassadors for ERTICO who are proud to belong to ERTICO and promote the benefits of public-private partnership!
- Communicating promoting and raising awareness of ITS benefits and the success stories of ERTICO Partners
- Maintaining team spirit: ERTICO has a great team with enormous potential – it is the most valuable asset of the company!
Personally I don’t think there is another organisation quite like ERTICO that manages to get different actors with different interests and priorities around the same table to find common solutions to make ITS a reality in our daily lives. It has been an enormous privilege to work for ERTICO. I have developed relationships with many wonderful people from different countries and backgrounds and am thankful for every opportunity that I have been given over the years.
I can only wish ERTICO and its Partners every success for the future and I promise to maintain a strong interest in the evolution of ITS!
Link to original Article
http://www.ertico.com/ertico-news-rachel-boyer-to-leave-ertico/
Original Publication Date: Tue 27 Jul 2010
