International workshop on cooperative intelligent transport systems kicks off

The theme of the workshop is: Safe, Smart and sustainable traffic via cooperative ITS and will be held under the lead sponsorship of the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF).

This workshop will give more than 160 participants a chance to learn about and discuss the progress made globally in the area of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). In particular, issues related to standards development, pilot deployments, regulatory aspects, spectrum issues, and emerging applications will be discussed.

Dr. Adnan Abu-Dayya, the Executive Director of QUWIC said, "the field of Cooperative ITS, as evidenced by the tremendous global attention to car-to-infrastructure and car-to-car communications, will undoubtedly re-shape the future of ITS in the years to come. More importantly, the deployment of standard-based car-to-x technologies promises to usher a new generation of applications that will make driving safer, smarter, and more enjoyable".

The opening plenary session will start at 1:30pm on Feb. 7th and will include presentations from the Director General of ETSI, the Executive Director of QUWIC, the Director of Transportation & Infrastructure Planning at the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning in Qatar, Secretary-General, National ITS Standardization Technical Committee of China, the CEO if ITS Europe (ERTICO), Program Manager of ICT at the Qatar National Research Fund.

The three-day event has a strong technical program with contributions from more than 30 distinguished speakers from all over the world. These speakers represent significant segments in the ITS Eco-system: Standard organizations, government agencies, car makers, technology providers, research institutions, universities, service providers, and industry consortia.

Dr. Fethi Filali, the ITS Technology Leader at QUWIC said, "Since its inception in 2009 QUWIC has adopted the area of ITS as its main focus initiative for R&D and is working diligently with strategic partners to deliver ITS innovations to the market. Through a focused technology development strategy, QUWIC is championing the development and piloting of cooperative ITS in Qatar. Some early results of this effort will be demonstrated using QUWIC's connected car in the exhibition hall".

In addition to the plenary opening session, the workshop will have sessions addressing these important topics:
• Standards progress review
• Global activities and pilots
• Stakeholders feedback
• Potential applications and services
• Radio spectrum allocation
• Security and privacy issues

The ETSI ITS Technical Committee (TC) is working on the standards that enable new technologies that allow vehicles to communicate and cooperate with road units and with other vehicles. ETSI is a not-for-profit organization that is officially recognized by the European Union as a European Standards Organization, with more than 700 international member organizations drawn from 62 countries across 5 continents world-wide.

Dr. Abu-Dayya concluded, "With the honor of winning the right to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and the ensuing significant initiatives that are being put into action especially in the transportation field, Qatar will have a chance to lead in the development, testing, piloting, and deployment of state of the art Cooperative ITS services that will utilize the emerging Car-to-X technologies. Hence, I hope our deliberations in this workshop can create opportunities for sustainable collaboration in this area".