Statement from ITS America President & CEO Shailen Bhatt on FCC Innovation Zones

Statements & Press Releases

Issues:

Connected Vehicles

September 24, 2019

“ITS America commends the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for creating the first two ‘innovation zones’ for advanced wireless technologies, which reduce barriers to innovation in new wireless networks and Internet-of-Things technologies. Wireless innovation is critical to advancing safety and mobility in our nation’s transportation system, and we applaud the FCC’s vision and foresight in advancing new technologies.

Building off the $100 million National Science Foundations (NSF) public private research partnership focusing on advanced wireless, the FCC has ensured that early stage concepts and technologies can be tested, proven and commercialized to ensure U.S. leadership in an area critical to our economic growth and public safety. The FCC chose New York City and Salt Lake City as the first Innovation Zones because of the NSF program’s unique ability to support largescale wireless experimentation and the opportunity in both locations to test new technologies across a wide range of spectrum bands, including the band that supports Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications. And just last week, the NSF announced the addition of North Carolina Research Triangle to the program, which will include even more work in transportation, highlighting ‘utilization of drones to rapidly deploy communication networks during disasters and seamless communication between vehicles and roadway infrastructure to reduce traffic congestion and improve public safety.’

ITS America members in North Carolina, Utah and New York City have been active in these wireless partnerships, and we look forward to continuing to support this important work.”

Contact: Cathy St. Denis, cstdenis@itsa.org

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About ITS America The Intelligent Transportation Society of America advances the research and deployment of intelligent transportation technologies to save lives, improve mobility, promote sustainability, and increase efficiency and productivity. Our vision is a better future transformed by intelligent mobility: safer, greener, smarter. For more information, please visit www.itsa.org

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