The ITS World Congress in Hamburg, 11 – 15 October, has drawn an impressive list of high-level speakers who will discuss the six key themes highlighted throughout the Congress: Automated & Connected driving, Mobility as a Service, Intelligent Infrastructure, Goods journey from ports to customers, New Services from new technologies and Solutions from Cities and Citizens. This high-level programme will be attended and include addresses by major personalities as well as high-level industry executives, public officials, and academia from around the world, who will share their experiences and views on ITS achievements.

‘I’ve been involved in the ITS Congresses worldwide since 2000 in Turin and I definitely see that significant changes have happened within the ITS sector since then’, says Jacob Bangsgaard, CEO ERTICO, and continues ‘From presenting ITS technologies, to the focus on implementation and deployment of technologies for the creation of new mobility services. This is what the ITS World Congress in Hamburg is all about.’

The High-Level Programme includes the prestigious Opening Ceremony on Monday 10 October at 4 PM (CET) in CCH – Hall 1. Keynote speeches will be made by Dr. Peter Tschentscher, First Mayor at the City of Hamburg; Dr. Auma Obama, Founder and Director of the Sauti Kuu Foundation; as well as Hajime Amano, Secretary-General at ITS Asia-Pacific, Dr. Angelos Amditis, Chairman of ERTICO – ITS Europe, Laura Chace, President and CEO of ITS America and Harry Evers, Managing Director at ITS Hamburg 2021. The Closing Ceremony, taking place on Friday 15 October at 11 AM (CET) in CCH – Hall Z, will include among others, official keynote speeches from the Host, Organisers and the Hamburg 2021 highlight video, best session and paper awards, video presentations and invitations to 28th ITS World Congress (Los Angeles 2022) and the ITS European Congress (Toulouse 2022).

Three plenaries will highlight the overarching theme of Experiencing Future Mobility Now.

  • The first plenary on ‘Ensuring Sustainable Mobility’ takes place on Tuesday 12 October at 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM in CCH – Hall Z, focusing on the benefits for cities, industries, public authorities & citizens, highlighting the developments in the mobility of people and transport of goods using technologies that have hugely benefited the society with accessible, equitable, inclusive, safer and more efficient services available to all.
  • The second plenary on ‘Delivering safe, efficient and integrated solutions’ takes place on Wednesday 13 October from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM in CCH – Hall Z and the focus of the discussion covers mobility for all, logistics services, traffic management, and automation.
  • The third plenary covers the topic of ‘Navigating data marketplaces in Smart Cities’, which takes place on Thursday, October 14, 2021 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM in CCH – Hall Z will focus on data marketplaces, digital infrastructures, and connectivity.

Moreover, there will also be 6 Executive Sessions throughout the week:

  • ES1: Where are all the CAVs? Tuesday 12 October at 11:00 AM  in Messe – B6 – Room 1.
  • ES 2: Future Mobility, Future City on Tuesday 12 October at 14:00 PM in Messe – B6 – Room 1.
  • ES 3: Digital evolution, or digital revolution on Tuesday 12 October at 16:00 PM in Messe – B6 – Room 1.
  • ES 4: Smart traffic management: removing the roadblocks on Thursday 14 October at 11:00 AM in CCH – Room X9.
  • ES 5: Implementation of Green Intelligent Transport Systems on Thursday 14 October at 14:00 PM in CCH – Room X9.
  • ES 6: Achieving traffic safety: “herd immunity” with vaccinated AVs on Thursday 14 October at 16:00 PM in CCH – Room X9.

‘This will be one of Europe’s largest face-to-face events this year’, says Lisa Boch-Andersen, Organiser of the ITS World Congress Hamburg 2021 and Director of Communications and Events at ERTICO-ITS Europe. ‘Contributions from the ITS community will be showcased in 180 technical sessions, alongside high-level plenaries and executive presentations, three regional forums, 30 demonstrations, and 19 technical visits. For the first time this year, we will have two global forums, and as usual, an innovative start-up programme focused on matchmaking will form part of the programme. Of course, the most important element is people – that’s what ITS is all about.’

The ITS World Congress is also hosting a high-level ITS World Congress Summit in the presence of Ministers and Industry leaders and forums from the three respective regions; the Asia Pacific, the Americas and Europe. Taking place on Tuesday, 12 October, the ITS World Congress Summit will discuss questions on financing models, modal transportation shifts, public acceptance of a faster transition to sustainable mobility, harmonising standards and regulations in the ITS sector, amongst others debated topics.

For the first time, 2 Global Forums will be dedicated to two very popular topics:

  • MaaS/MoD Global Forum: Mobility for everyone, everywhere will take place on Monday, October 11 at 11:30 AM in Messe – B6 – Room 1. The session will examine global solutions for user-focussed mobility by exploring whether these solutions can also help us reduce transport’s environmental impact. And what developments might we expect by 2030?
  • Freight and Ports Global Forum: From the factory to your front door takes place on Wednesday, October 13 at 2 PM in CCH – Room X2. This forum will look at the entire chain of freight & logistics operations with connections between ports & traditional road transport being a crucial part of the scenario.

This year’s ITS World Congress in Hamburg will also feature a designated exhibition area and dedicated Startup programme sponsored by the ERTICO with the theme: Connect, Innovate, Grow.

Additionally, ERTICO will host two sessions on the work that has been done through the City Moonshot initiative. On Monday 11 October at 2 PM (CET) in CCH – Hall X – Room X1, ERTICO will present the history behind the initiative by introducing the topics covered during previous interviews on sustainability, data sharing and MaaS. Next to it, ITS America will present their views on the initiative and showcase some insights into the results of the American cities that have participated in the initiative. Finally, two industrial partners, SWARCO and Arriva, will share their views on the initiative and how it can support and foster collaboration between cities and the private sector.

The second session will take place on Tuesday 12 October at 4 PM (CET) in CCH – Hall X – Room X3. ERTICO will present the methodology used in the first 150 interviews of the City Moonshot and further focus on the creation of the questionnaire used for the interviews, the plan followed to interview the cities and, finally, the analysis of the results. A broad array of speakers representing different sectors will share their views on the initiative and the methodology used.

The exhibition halls, the Congress Center Hamburg (CCH) and selected locations throughout Hamburg are the largest industry meeting on these topics. The World Congress aims to make innovative mobility concepts tangible and present an outlook on future developments in the Hanseatic city.

Last but not least, the demonstration programme is one of the largest ever seen at a World Congress, pushing the boundaries of technical possibilities within the six Congress themes. The best-rated demonstration will be given the Best Demo Award based on the votes of Congress Participants.

If you are interested in the future of mobility, then the ITS World Congress is an unmissable opportunity! Register here and check the full programme. Do not forget to download the ITS Congress App once you’ve registered, and take a closer look at the ITS International Digital Preview.