20 September 2013
The ERTICO Partnership at the 20th ITS World Congress, Tokyo
By Ian Bearder
On 14 October 2013 the ITS World Congress begins in Tokyo. Known worldwide as a centre of innovation and digital expertise, Tokyo will host the world’s leading ITS experts and industry chiefs under the congress title “Open ITS to the Next”.
This is the 20th anniversary of the ITS World Congress, and the theme which focuses on how ITS will affect future generations, is a tribute to the importance of ITS both now and for future generations. As Hiroyuki Watanabe, Chairman, ITS Japan explains, these ‘next-generation’ systems ‘will address a variety of traffic-related issues, including the environment, energy, safety and traffic congestion. In addition it will contribute to enhancing quality of life while answering society’s need for accurate and prompt responses to disasters and other unexpected events’.
Home to almost 35 million people, Tokyo is a city which is tackling these issues head-on, so the hightech mega-city provides a perfect backdrop to this year’s congress.
The ERTICO Partnership and the European Pavillion More than 25 ERTICO Partners will be present at the European Pavilion at the World Congress in Tokyo showing the latest developments of ITS in Europe. On October 15 at 17:00 the pavilion will host a reception during which Minna Kivimäki, Director General of the Transport Ministry of Finland, will officially launch the App contest. This contest will reward the best developments for new mobile applications for consumers. The award ceremony will take place at next year’s European ITS congress in Helsinki, Finland. A drink of Bordeaux wine, a symbolic introduction of the European venue of the 2015 ITS World Congress, will conclude the reception.
More information and the contest rules and a detailed timetable are available on the Congress website www.itsineurope.com.
The ERTICO Partnership in Action
We are delighted that ERTICO CEO Hermann Meyer has been invited to speak during the opening ceremony at 14:00 on Monday 14 October where the winners of the 2013 ITS Hall of Fame awards will be announced. During the next 5 days of the congress the ERTICO Partnership will host a number of events and we look forward to seeing many of you there.
The FOT-Net project, which focuses on the results of Field Operational Tests (FOTs), will organise the FOTNet Sixth International Workshop on the Impact and deployment of FOT results and data on Monday 14 October 2013 at the Tokyo International Forum. Taking place ahead of the opening ceremony of the congress, the workshop aims to reinforce the global FOT network, support the transfer of knowledge and best practices, and to foster international cooperation on FOT activities.
Four round table discussions are also taking place on Data and Impact analysis, Strategies for deployment and satisfying stakeholders’ needs, Sharing driver data from FOTs and Naturalistic Driving Studies, and Sharing of cooperative systems data. They will be followed by a plenary presentation and discussion.
Finally, FOT-Net will host a special session on Analysing the outcomes of Field Operational Tests (SIS04), on 15 October, 11:00-12:30.
See www.fot-net.eu for more info.
On 17 October at 09:00, a 79GHz project workshop will examine the achievements of the 79 GHz Project over the past year on a global level, illustrating the current allocation status of the 79GHz frequency worldwide.
An overview of the current activities related to 79 GHz radar sensors and their applications (e.g. fully automated driving) will be llustrated and the workshop will also focus on the work of GARREG (Global Automotive Radio Regulations Expert Group) to establish a worldwide acting technical committee and interest group for automotive frequency allocation issues.
79GHz also host a Special Interest Session (SIS16) “Automotive Radar on the Move -Towards International Frequency Harmonisation” on 16 October (11:00 – 12:30) to inform the ITS experts on the current status of the activities in the field of automotive radar systems.
Invited speakers will present information about the technology and frequency regulation/allocation.
See www.79ghz.eu for further details.
ERTICO Partners from the Traffic and Transport Industry sector platform will participate in a special interest session on 17 October (9:00-10:30) which focuses on how best to accelerate ITS deployment. The meeting includes high-level Government representatives and
key industry members who will explore ways to overcome barriers to deployment, the importance and the role of political leadership and how the ITS industry can cooperate with the authorities to ensure sustained operational acceleration.
The Closing and “Passing the Globe” Ceremony
The Closing Ceremony will be held at Tokyo Big Sight, International Conference Room on Friday, 18 October 2013 from 15:00 to 16:00.
This ceremony will provide a summary of the congress findings as well as future perspectives. Several Best Papers Awards will be presented.
The “Passing the Globe” Ceremony will symbolically pass the torch from Tokyo to Detroit, USA, where next’s years ITS World Congress will be held. In 2014, Detroit will hand over the torch to Bordeaux, France, that will the 2015 host of the ITS World Congress.
