The ITS World Congress is not only an opportunity to showcase the latest technological developments in the smart mobility sector or exchange know-how and best practices; it is also an important occasion for the international ITS community to gather and celebrate the ground-breaking achievements of its members.
This year’s Congress has honoured participants with three different awards: the award for Lifetime Achievement, the Local Government and the Industry Award to the European, Asia-Pacific and American regions.
During the Opening Ceremony, ERTICO’s CEO Jacob Bangsgaard presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for Europe to Paul Kompfner, one of ERTICO’s most relevant contributors for the past 25 years and still active patron in the smart mobility field.
“A person with an incredible integrity and expertise in his work” said Mr. Bangsgaard. “Paul was the brain behind some of the most significant European projects and has helped shape and innovate ITS Congresses since 1994, building up an incomparable network of friends, colleagues & associates across the global ITS community”.
For the Asia-Pacific region, the winner was one of the founding members of ITS Taiwan and is currently the Chinese-Taipei Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Dr. Kent Kwo-Tsai Wang.
This award recognised Dr. Kent Kwo-Tsai Wang’s dedicated career to ITS and numerous achievements, among which the establishment of the first ITS Center in Kaohsiung, his efforts to foster international collaboration with 12 countries, the initiation of the first ITS 10-Year Master Plan for Taiwan and much more.
For the American region, the award went to Jeffrey Paniati, Executive Director and CEO of the Institute of Transportation Engineers in the United States. His career spans nearly 4 decades as a leader in transportation, including leadership roles at the U.S. DOT (Department of Transportation) heading both the Federal Highway Administration and the ITS Joint Program Office and leading safety and traffic operations research programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center.
The second award was the one for Local Government, presented to the City of Copenhagen for the European region. “Copenhagen has embraced ITS to make mobility greener, healthier and safer with the purpose to be the first carbon-neutral capital city by 2025. Copenhagen is known as the world’s best city for cyclists with 62% of Copenhageners using bikes as main transport means. The city has also installed message signs which provide real time traffic information to cyclists, cars, buses and pedestrians to lead them through traffic in a quicker, safer, and more convenient way. Well done Copenhagen for being one of the drivers of sustainable mobility”, said Mr. Bangsgaard.
The Korean Jeju Special Self-Governing province was awarded this prize for the Asia-Pacific region, thanks to its significant deployments of C-ITS projects and its commitment to provide its community with services such as an integrated total service, which includes transportation, sightseeing, accommodation reservation, parking fee payment and emergency in cooperation with private business services.
The Florida Department of Transportation was awarded for the American region, thanks to its TSM&O (Statewide Transportation System Management and Operations) program, which will increase the delivery rate of fatality-free and congestion-free transportation systems in the region.
During the third Plenary, Jacob Bangsgaard announced the winner of the Industry Award for Europe.
For its active involvement in ERTICO’s truck platooning project, strong support to the international cooperation with China and for demonstrating a strong ambition in the ITS domain with its Connected Safety technology, the award was presented to Anders Bonander, Senior Product Planner at Volvo Group.
Volvo’s latest technology was the key factor leading to this success, enabling sensors in the car to pick up warnings from other vehicles and allowing via wireless cloud-to-cloud communication drivers to act on danger even when it is out of their field of view.
For the Asia-Pacific region, the award was given to the Japanese company Nishitetsu Information System for establishing the most of basic factors of Mobility-as-a-Service, while General Motors was awarded for its first in the world hands-free driver assistance feature for the freeway.
