ERTICO - ITS Europe is all about making mobility smarter, safer and more sustainable
In the third year of my tenure as CEO, I am proud to present ERTICO’s Annual Review 2023-2024. A testament to our collective vision of driving innovation and positive change for future mobility, this period has marked notable achievements across all our activities, reflecting a year of continued commitment aligned with our values: Cooperative, Impactful, Open, Passionate and Visionary. On behalf of ERTICO, I am honoured to share the great strides we have made across the entire smart mobility ecosystem in creating a smarter, more efficient and sustainable mobility future with our Partners.
As the intersection of sustainable transport and smart mobility has become a horizontal layer of our work, we remain committed to uniting all sectors. As a beacon of inspiration, ERTICO is uniquely positioned to bring together public and private stakeholders from all domains, creating a multi-stakeholder platform for open dialogues to drive innovation forward: this is part of our DNA. From strengthening international and cross-sectoral alliances to embracing new and dynamic cooperation, we continue to focus on meeting the evolving demands of a changing mobility landscape.
Be inspired and inspire others
Joost Vantomme CEO of ERTICO – ITS Europe
We Continue to Connect the Dots
In the last year, we witnessed a continuing blend of advancements and global challenges with emerging technologies and innovations in artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and space exploration, to name but a few.
Digital transformations are enabling virtual spaces to become an integral part of society, while discussions relating to equity, diversity, and inclusion gained momentum across many sectors. We noted this throughout the global transport sector, which is undergoing a transformative journey shaped by environmental imperatives and shifting societal demands.
To keep pace with this change, we invited organisations from across the entire spectrum to join the ERTICO Partnership: from the micromobility community and innovative research institutions to public authorities and the digital arena. We welcomed our Partners to the third edition of ‘Focus On’ events, addressing micromobility, and hosted our annual Activity Development Days (ADDs) to discuss future priorities and upcoming Calls for Tenders in sync with the EU agenda. We also organised sectoral meetings and introduced cross-sectoral events as valuable facilitators of dialogue, providing further opportunities for Partners to stay up to date with the latest policy developments.
Advancing cross-sectoral network opportunities is a fundamental aspect of our work. Together with colleagues from the regional ITS organisations, ITS America and ITS Asia Pacific, we continue to connect continents and strengthen our voice globally. The ITS Congresses are unique events that provide a platform for all players to share expertise and best practices, fostering new thinking and experiencing innovative technologies. Last year, ITS Asia Pacific hosted the 29th ITS World Congress in Suzhou, China, delivering valuable insight from all the regions. We also announced the next host cities as ‘preferred candidates’ for the 2026 ITS European Congress in Istanbul, Turkey and the 2027 ITS World Congress in Birmingham, UK.
Before preparations begin for these events, we look forward to hosting the 30th ITS World Congress in Dubai, 16-20 September 2024, bringing this leading event in Intelligent Transport Systems to the EMEA region for the first time. We are also looking forward to organising the 16th ITS European Congress in Seville, 2-4 June 2025 to explore future solutions focusing on ‘Clean, Resilient and Smart Mobility’.
A Year of Innovative Achievements
Innovation is at the heart of what we do. As part of our ethos, it drives us to facilitate and develop activities with positive contributions to the future of mobility. This includes co-creating cleaner, safer and more sustainable solutions, and enabling the deployment of innovative technologies.
Our journey in the last year has been one of significant milestones, including the conclusion of flagship projects in transport and logistics: 5G-LOGINNOV, BOOSTLOG, FENIX, STORM and WeTransform. Beyond the great achievement of ISO standard approval, and supporting the Green Deal, we made significant contributions to the development of data-sharing solutions and were awarded the prestigious Innovation Award 2023 for Data Sharing and Data Transformation.
Other leading projects across our focus areas also concluded, including 5GMETA, PrepDSpace4Mobility and MODALES. They made significant advances in their fields, delivering 5G technologies applications in connected, cooperative and automated mobility (CCAM), encouraging the adoption of low-emission driving behaviour, and laying the foundation for the common European mobility data space (EMDS). While these activities leave their legacy, we continue to build on their solid foundations and introduce new co-founded projects that are already having a significant impact.
As we continue to tap into the potential of common data spaces, novel shared mobility systems (NSM), innovative security enablers for 6G networks and more inclusive mobility solutions, we have many more initiatives in the pipeline. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our Partners as we stand on the brink of new opportunities and exciting prospects. Strengthening our network across sectors and continents will take forward a culture of collaboration and help us to reach new heights.
Leading the Conversation
Our Thought Leadership agenda has seen several high-impact initiatives. The ITS Market Radar Report, the first publication in a forthcoming series, provided in-depth market insights and trends from our two sectors, Service Providers and Traffic and Transport Industry. We also introduced the ‘Connecting Dots & Talks’ podcast series for industry leaders and experts to share insights and foster collaboration. Our Partnership Webinar Series, ‘Thought Leadership Journeys’, was also initiated, bringing together experts to enrich dialogue and knowledge sharing. We hope to invite many more like-minded experts from all domains to continue the open dialogue.
We continue to strengthen ties in Europe and beyond
Significant EU legislation and policy rollouts also informed our efforts and underlined our own direction of travel. I had the pleasure of commenting on our support for the adoption of the revised ITS Directive, a landmark framework for our community. I will continue to “knock hard on the door” for ITS to be recognised as an enabler for decarbonisation. This includes the joint vision for recognising ITS in the Taxonomy Framework together with other industry organisations. We will continue to be vocal on this topic and promote a more holistic view of transport policies and mobility concepts.
Ensuring fruitful liaison with other European organisations and associations has continued as a priority and is something I am keen to reinforce through actively engaging in discussions and streamlining our viewpoints on ITS. We continued our close collaboration with a broad range of organisations, including the Network of ITS Nationals Associations. This important network celebrates its 20th Anniversary this year, and we had the honour of hosting the annual plenary at ERTICO’s offices in 2023.
The international ITS community also remains extremely important. We signed a Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with ITS Korea and further strengthened our cooperation with the UK Transport Technology Forum (TTF), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) through a Joint Statement of Sustainable Future Mobility Systems. Efficient cooperation with other organisations such as the International Road Federation (IRF) in Geneva, and the European Space Agency (ESA), among others is on track.
With a great deal of exciting work ahead of us, we look forward to a period of strategic thinking for ERTICO, aiming at revisiting our key objectives. An organisation like ours is nothing without its people – without our team. We have worked intensively to gain a fresh impetus through diverse HR-related actions, including reshaping our way of working.
Finally, I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to all of you who have played an integral role in the successes achieved, the milestones reached, and the challenges surpassed. Together we will continue to be inspired and inspire others.