The High-Level Programme of the ITS European Congress in Toulouse is already shaping up to be a programme that challenges current thinking and pushes forward new ideas in ITS technologies. European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean will address the ITS Community and Delegates in the Opening Ceremony on 30 May 2022, sharing her thoughts on the Congress theme of Smart and Sustainable Mobility for all. There will also be an array of high-level speakers addressing challenging issues in four very interesting Plenaries throughout Congress week. Today, some of these speakers give their thoughts.
Laura Chace, President and CEO of ITS America, is speaking in Plenary 1 on Day 1 of the Congress ‘Next Generation Mobility: Powered by technology, driven by sustainability’, and says ‘Despite the readiness of the technology to deliver ITS solutions, we must ensure that these solutions are sustainable and equitable that work for our present and future generations.’
Ismail Ertug, MEP speaking in Plenary 2 on Day 2, ‘Manoeuvring around obstacles on the road to deployment’, says: ‘While the technology sector is making great advances in smart mobility, citizens expect their elected representatives to make sure that this deployment takes place in their best interest and to serve their needs. I am looking forward to discussing this more in-depth especially in terms of questions of citizen engagement, generating user acceptance, preventing monopolies and ensuring the interoperability of solutions.’
Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director-General European Commission, DG MOVE will be speaking in Plenary 4 on Day 3 ‘Why aren’t we there yet? Getting MaaS to work (and everywhere).’ He says: ‘For citizens to experience the full benefits of Mobility-as-a-Service, we need to establish the building blocks which will further facilitate cooperation between the different actors and ensure that the solutions are interoperable across the EU. This will also enable a scale-up from local pilots to pan-European positioning. Looking forward to hearing views on this at the ITS Congress.’
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