Theme and Topics

ITS: The Game Changer

With the theme ITS: The Game Changer, the 15th ITS European Congress, organised by ERTICO – ITS Europe and the European Commission, will showcase the latest technologies adopted by the Lisbon Region, host of the event, together with all the available ITS services and solutions in Europe.

Lisbon is part of Europe’s entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem and enjoys global recognition as a welcoming destination. This, combined with ERTICO’s mission and work on promoting and developing smart mobility services, promises a fantastic programme, innovative live demos and a great experience overall.

The sheer speed and scope of ITS, propelled by technological developments and social and environmental needs, are unprecedented. ITS has already made transportation much more efficient, demand-responsive and safe. And more is to come. The innovative potential of ITS is too vast to foretell our mobile future. We only know that ITS, The Game Changer, will keep changing the game – and us.

The European Programme Committee is pleased to present the 5 topics running through the three Congress pillars:

– Programme
– Exhibition
– Demonstrations:

Automated, cooperative and
connected ITS

Quite soon almost every vehicle and every traveller will be connected. Being always aware of what is going on in transport and surrounding sectors will have profound effects on mobility and its users. All kinds of transport modes and related offerings of personalised services will be based on data sharing and connectivity anytime, everywhere.

At the same time highly automated driving changes the role of a driver from active vehicle occupant to a passenger being transported in an extremely safe and efficient manner to the destination. The main problems of the transport system will not be accidents or emissions, but cybersecurity and maintaining human control.

How do we guarantee the backwards compatibility and the cooperative dimension during then transition period? How do we synchronise the investments necessary in the communications, physical and digital infrastructure as well as new transport system policies, new business models, new technology and services? How should we move forward with institutional, regulatory and legal issues, including liability? In short, what are the best ways to get there?

New mobility services

The mobility sector is changing as end-users are playing a more centric role while providers, continue to launch new services. But not all new suppliers have successfully adapted to cities’ expectations and some solutions, eg shared micro-mobility or urban air mobility, challenge traditional policies and markets.

Only open schemes, such as Mobility as a Service (MaaS), involving public and private entities cooperating will deliver high value and move us towards the reconfiguration and long-term stability of urban mobility. New business and governance models are urgently needed, for both public and private sectors, to make the operation of all types of solutions economically viable and societally sound.

Interoperability and backwards compatibility are key to integrate both MaaS and newer services into existing strategies, systems and infrastructure, not only for technical specifications but also for commercial, operational and regulatory requirements.

Who will or should take the first step to bring all stakeholders together?

How can we integrate new services into long-term transport and urban planning when the benefits and disadvantages are not yet fully known?

How do we support innovations and new businesses while simultaneously safeguarding safety, accessibility, sustainability and environmental policies that match the ambitions of cities and users?

Freight & Logistics

While freight transport and wider logistics often have been seen as a highly “traditional” field current developments are leading the sector into a new era. Goods will be transported by driverless vehicles – fully driverless trucks, as well as platooning are attracting high media attention, raising questions on the future of truck drivers’ skills and jobs but also how automation can mitigate current and future increase in driver shortage. As well as deliveries by drones and robots of various sizes and shapes will bring goods to the customers where and when needed, promising multiple new benefits to the users and society and at the same time coming up with a number of new business, policy and technical challenges.

However the largest developments in the sector are happening “under the media radar”. New freight platforms are being deployed, connecting freight and logistics stakeholders across Europe. Many companies use fleet management solutions
to optimise operations but usually the associated data stays within companies so it cannot be used to optimise operations at ports, rail terminals and airports, limiting effectiveness of such intermodal transport and cooperation with other relevant stakeholders. Such platforms are enabled by the wide uptake of new technologies and digitalisation of all freight transport documents, which nevertheless are not allowed everywhere in Europe as the industry has not yet embraced them whole-heartedly.

On another aspect, what could the industry learn from existing ITS implementations such as smart tachographs, European Electronic Tolling System (EETS) and fleet management systems? How can digitalisation and electrification of freight deliveries directly reduce CO2 emissions? Finally, change is on the horizon also in maritime transport. Digital information and automation are opening up new business opportunities and new possibilities to optimize cargo flows. How can maritime transport adapt to a changing world and face new threats like cybersecurity and human-machine< interaction challenges?

Digitalisation and the data value chain

Satellite and terrestrial telecoms are giving us fast and affordable connectivity plus precise location referencing; data from vehicles, other sensors and network operations are allowing everyone real-time information and multimodal mobility opportunities that can be accessed from a range of mobile devices. Today’s “digital generation” companies and users are learning how to integrate and use this data and move the focus from collecting, storing and owning it to processing and using it.

We are unclear how best to develop, deploy and operate digital infrastructure and we know that cities often own a great deal of mobility data but hesitate to share it with transport suppliers because of concerns about privacy, safety, liability. Similarly suppliers are concerned about maintaining commercial security and competitiveness. We need to speed up moves to bring the parties together for cooperative, shared, innovative solutions that bring benefit to the entire value chain.

Achieving integrated ITS across Europe for seamless multimodal transport and mobility services, operating on digital infrastructure, relies on digital data exchange without borders, on discoverability, harmonisation and
rapid access to any data, publicly / privately generated and owned. Do we have the right data platforms, standards and legal frameworks to deliver truly game-changing services to users at affordable prices? What more needs to be done and who should take the lead?

Transport network design and operations

Transport network management has developed in capabilities from the reactive control of small areas to the predictive management of large regions. The key next steps are integration of network management with connected, cooperative and automated mobility, with timetabling and routing of public transport, with MaaS platforms, with freight & service delivery, and with policies on air quality, noise and sustainability. In this way public policy objectives regarding health, safety, equitable access and efficiency can be effectively pursued while preserving individuals’ choice of mobility options.

The technologies are available, but how to use them efficiently to better manage city space for a mixed population of freight and passenger vehicles? How can we encourage enhanced cooperation between the parties and co-creativity to ensure that future mobility services will be provided as safely, efficiently and effectively as possible? What changes are needed to transport networks in order to enable electrification of all vehicles?

Transport network design and operations

Transport network management has developed in capabilities from the reactive control of small areas to the predictive management of large regions. The key next steps are integration of network management with connected, cooperative and automated mobility, with timetabling and routing of public transport, with MaaS platforms, with freight & service delivery, and with policies on air quality, noise and sustainability. In this way public policy objectives regarding health, safety, equitable access and efficiency can be effectively pursued while preserving individuals’ choice of mobility options.

The technologies are available, but how to use them efficiently to better manage city space for a mixed population of freight and passenger vehicles? How can we encourage enhanced cooperation between the parties and co-creativity to ensure that future mobility services will be provided as safely, efficiently and effectively as possible? What changes are needed to transport networks in order to enable electrification of all vehicles?

What will I learn about