October 28, 2019
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2019 ITS WORLD CONGRESS IN SINGAPORE
From the opening and closing ceremonies to the gala in Gardens by the Bay, Singapore wowed participants at last week’s 25th ITS World Congress.
A highlight of the opening ceremony, as always, was the announcement of Hall of Fame honors. This year, three veterans were inducted – Jim Barbaresso, national ITS and emerging mobility solutions practice leader at HNTB; Brian Negus, chair of the ITS Australia policy committee; and Svend Tofting, founder of ITS Denmark. The awards are awarded annually to those who personify the highest standards of leadership and who have helped drive the ITS industry forward. Each of the inductees have been instrumental in organizing the ITS World Congress in their home countries.
ITS America’s Mobility on Demand (MOD) Alliance was in the spotlight as well, with the signing of an MoU with ERTICO – ITS Europe and ITS Asia-Pacific as well as the first Global Forum on MaaS. The MoU, signed by the three respective top officials, promotes the development of common policies, standards, governance, business models and technologies in the MOD/MaaS industry. It also strengthens the interoperability and scalability of solutions and services. The three regions will work together to organize dedicated MOD/MaaS market conferences in conjunction with the annual ITS World Congresses, as well as other delegations of stakeholders, to leverage global synergies and better understand the developments of new business models and their applications in different environments.
The Global Forum demonstrated that in North America, Asia and Europe, Mobility as a Service and Mobility on Demand are creating a new paradigm in how people and goods move. Panelists discussed whether MaaS can eliminate the single occupant car, if there a is true market for MaaS, and lessons learned from deployments to date. Other topics included a global strategy and policy on how to develop standards for interoperability and integration, developing customer expectations and how to meet larger goals of inclusivity, accessibility and congestion.
One of ITS America’s favorite events was the kickoff reception for next year’s World Congress in Los Angeles. Toasting with the ‘Americano’ signature cocktail created for the reception, World Congress Board of Directors Chair Steve Morriss (AECOM Group President, Design and Consulting Services) said, “ITS is in the center of an industry that’s going through it’s most exciting time ever. This part of our industry is shaping the future for decades to come.”
Singapore put on a fantastic event, and ITS America can’t wait to welcome the world to Los Angeles next fall. Exhibit space is going fast, so if your organization is interested in joining other leaders in ITS, please contact Kyle Corcoran at kyle@corcexpo.com; and mark your calendars for The New Age of Mobility October 4-8, 2020 – onward to #ITSWC20!
MEMBER CONNECTION: ARUN DAWIT
Name: Arun Dawit
Title: Co-Founder
Company: UrbanLogiq
Short Job description/Role Responsibility: As one of the Founders of UrbanLogiq, a data analytics firm for governments, I’ve had the opportunity to work in all facets of the company – everything from marketing and sales, product strategy, to finding a plumber for the office. Currently, my role is focused on strategic partnerships and business development.
Current or previous #ITS Project: UrbanLogiq is working with agencies throughout North America to aggregate their existing data from ITS devices which tend to be siloed in different departments and databases. We integrate this data with 3rd party sources and ingest it into a cloud-based platform to help agencies get a unified view of what’s happening in their district to provide deeper insights to improve their operations. We then use AI and Machine learning to provide predictive analytics. Some of the ITS related projects include San Jose, CA; Mesa, AZ; Henderson, NV; Ottawa, ON; Richmond, BC, and Surrey, BC just to name a few.
Accomplishments: UrbanLogiq has accomplished quite a bit in our short history. We’ve reached significant milestones and have been humbled to receive recognition through several awards. We received the Smart Cities Award from the American Planning Association for our project with San Jose; accolades from the New York startup scene as we were listed as one of 5 startups to watch in NYC. Our predictive machine learning project won a City Innovation Award and Tech Crunch ranked UrbanLogiq as one of the top 5 companies coming out of 500 startups accelerator. In addition, we have built a powerhouse team from our software developers, data scientists, customer success, sales, and marketing teams. As a founder, seeing the committed group that we have amassed is the accomplishment that I’m most proud of.
