eSafety at the ITS World Congress in San Francisco

Date: 02 November 2005

The 12th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems in San Francisco taking place 6 - 10 November 2005, will feature several sessions on the topic of eSafety. The eSafety Forum initiative is a joint European industry-public sector initiative driven by the European Commission. Work is now progressing in the implementation of the 28 recommendations set out in the eSafety programme to deploy eSafety systems and technologies that can help reducing the number of injured and killed in the traffic. Deployment work is ongoing in Europe within some of the key priority areas like eCall, Real Time Traffic and Traveller Information (RTTI), and Human Machine Interaction (HMI).

Here a short overview of the eSafety activities in San Francisco:

The International Cooperation Working Group will get together at the Marriott Hotel in San Francisco on 9 November 2005 to discuss on the eSafety progress in Europe, give information on global activities and progress on international co-operation. Chairman is Jacob Bangsgaard, Director of External Affairs and Communications at ERTICO.

An International Workshop on vehicle communications – vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications for safety and efficiency will take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on 11 November 2005. Organised by the ITS America Automotive, telecommunications, and consumer electronics forum, this workshop features four panels with the following topics: Communications-enabled applications for safety and efficiency: status of ongoing initiatives; Communications technologies and strategies; Deployment, business case and cost–benefit analysis; Privacy and standardisation. Chairman is Ray Resendes from NHTSA - the US Department of Transportation.

The Supporting eSafety deployment session takes place on Tuesday 8 November. Moderator is Rosalie Zobel Director from the European Commission and speakers include Juhani Jaaskelainen Deputy Head of Unit, European Commission as well as Anu Lamberg, Senior Adviser of the Finish Ministry of Transport and Communications. This Special Session will focus on the progress towards deployment of the eSafety technologies and systems and the challenges that are faced.

Other sessions on eSafety taking place in San Francisco: on 7 November Development of a worldwide platform for safe speed initiatives; on 8 November EU funded programs on intelligent vehicle safety systems, Cooperative intersection collision avoidance systems – CICAS and Autonomous vehicle safety; on 9 November IP PReVENT – preventive and active safety applications, ADAS horizon – how digital maps can contribute to road safety and Global eSafety; on 10 November GST – towards global system for telematics.

For more information, please visit the ITS World Congress website.