After opening remarks from MEPs Dieter L. Koch and Zita Gurmai as well as from Antti Peltomäki (DG INFSO) the session started the day’s business with an update of the status of the eCall initiative by E. Dávila (DG INFSO).
Mr Dávila stressed that the eCall initiative was building on strong foundations namely previous research actions and studies the work of high level and expert groups various pilot studies (in for instance the Czech Republic Austria Finland) and many meetings with the various stakeholders. Furthermore he underlined the strong political backing at European level for the initiative encompassing the European Parliament the Council and the European Commission. In this regard he brought the participants’ attention to the Commission communication “ITS Action Plan” and the proposed directive accompanying it and the recent “eCall: Time for Deployment” communication.
Once againOnce again it was highlighted that the Commission expected “significant” progress to be made in the roll-out of eCall by the end of 2009. Mr Dávila reiterated that eCall is an efficient low-cost technology that can significantly contribute to saving lives and reducing the severity of injuries caused by road accidents.
The “eCall: Time for Deployment” communication states:
“Progress has however been too slow and the roll out of the pan-European eCall is severely delayed. The voluntary approach taken in previous communications and the Commission’s efforts to standardise eCall and work with all stakeholders has not been sufficient. Further measures are urgently needed.”
The session continued with a presentation by Anu Laurell (Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communication) on the status of the work of the eCall Implementation Platform.
The session then moved on to three roundtables regarding the implementation of the In-Vehicle part the Telecom part and the PSAP part. They were moderated by E. Leon (DG ENTR) P. Michou (DG INFSO) and Michel Bosco (DG TREN). There was agreement that eCall will be deployed and that the necessary preparations of all stakeholders are far advanced. Mobile Network Operators explained that there should be no problem to implement the eCall flag in the European mobile phone networks.
Representatives from ETSI/3GPP and CEN presented the status of their standardisation work. The technical specifications and standards are very well advanced and it was reiterated that the time has come for pilots to deploy eCall with all stakeholders working in pararell. Representatives from Member States and the industry stated their willingness to participate in these pilots which are currently in preparation in the context of the work of the eCall Implementation Platform. Juhani Jääskeläinen’s (DG-INFSO) and Hermann Meyer (ERTICO) concluded the session stating that the eCall Summit truly fulfilled its mission to provide a clear commitment and motivation to the implementation of eCall. The eCall Implementation Platform will take inspiration from this meeting and continue its important work to make eCall happen.
Link to original Article
http://www.ertico.com/eu-news-report-on-the-ecall-summit-time-for-deployment/
Original Publication Date: Tue 27 Jul 2010
