The 18th IRF World Meeting and Exhibition took place in Dubai on 7-10 November. ERTICO participated in this ‘global summit and technology showcase’ as a significant contributor to the ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) elements of the road networks. ERTICO Chairman Dr Angelos Amditis and Dr Stephane Dreher, Senior Manager of Innovation and Deployment, took part in the event, starting with the IRF ITS Committee meeting on Saturday 6 November.
Dr Stephane Dreher presented the ERTICO Academy initiative and participated in the roundtable discussion on ITS training courses focusing on current needs vs future ITS training offers. He shared ERTICO’s experience in organizing training activities for public authorities in Europe.
On 7 November, Dr Angelos Amditis presented ERTICO’s mobility vision 2030, including an integrated Transport ecosystem and insights from the City Moonshot initiative, in the session “How do cities and citizens benefit from ITS?”.
‘The 18th IRF World Meeting has provided a valuable opportunity for policy and road actors everywhere to collaborate and align on their pathways towards smart cities but even more than that, towards smart societies. For ERTICO, mobility management in cities has been a key priority, and as a strong public-private partnership we support the widespread deployment of innovative, cooperative, connected and personalised mobility services/systems solutions that offer a range of benefits for cities, says Dr Angelos Amditis, Chairman of ERTICO. ‘Our vision for mobility 2030 is guided by the need for delivering green and safe seamless mobility for all citizens, accounting for both people and goods, and our way of progression towards efficient urban mobility is based on a holistic approach that includes diverse actors and generates added value with the integration of disruptive technologies into mobility schemes – automation, eco-friendly mobility, autonomous and connected vehicles, digital and physical infrastructure evolution, interactive traffic management, MaaS deployment, shared and common frameworks, C-ITS, 5G, etc. In this frame, recognising that data, and their availability, access and management, with regards also to safety and privacy, are acquiring a central position and a reinforced role for the city and public authorities, ERTICO’s work in identifying the cities’ needs and requirements in relation to mobility and transport and facilitating public-private collaboration on new business models, innovative concepts and data sharing is leading the way towards the climate-resilient, smart and sustainable cities of tomorrow.’
On 8 November, Dr. Stephane Dreher participated in the Executive Panel on Infrastructure Pathways to Electric & Autonomous Mobility. After a brief introduction of policy initiatives in Europe related to infrastructure support for the deployment of EV and AV, Dr Dreher highlighted the key roles of several ERTICO led platforms and projects, including TN-ITS, TM2.0, ARCADE, ADASIS, SENSORIS, in developing the required digital infrastructure for CCAM.
During the event, Dr. Dreher met with Eng. Salah Al Marzooqi, Director of Intelligent Traffic Systems Department at the Dubai Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) on 9 November to discuss the cooperation between RTA and ERTICO. Dr. Dreher also had the opportunity to visit the recently inaugurated Dubai ITS Centre and held a meeting with Eng. Ahmed Mohamed Alhammadi Chief Specialist – D&I section, Eng. Aisha Abdalla Mohamed Abdelkarim Al-ali and Eng. Marwa Majid Rashid Khlalifa Alsuwaid, the team of engineers of RTA, to present infrastructure-related initiatives in Europe and elaborate on RTA’s future cooperation with ERTICO.
RTA has been an ERTICO member since 2019 and will be hosting the 2024 ITS World Congress in Dubai. ERTICO and RTA agreed in Dubai to organize a series of follow up meetings to share knowledge and initiatives in both regions.
