Project News: Final SIMBA European Event sets stage for further cooperation

Date: 07 March 2008

International cooperation project ends on high note.

The EC-funded, ERTICO – ITS Europe-coordinated SIMBA project’s Final European Event brought together over 50 Chinese, Brazilian, South African, Indian and European infrastructure operators, vehicle makers, technology providers and ITS stakeholders in Brussels on 25 February 2008. Furthering the discussions held at the SIMBA National Events in emerging markets held in 2007 and the initial Priority Workshops in 2006, the event defined possible future activities to be done in cooperation between the EU and emerging markets in the field of road transport research.

The SIMBA project aims to increase road transport research cooperation between Europe and the emerging markets of Brazil, China, India, and South Africa by establishing a collaboration network that will bring together the key stakeholders in the fields of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), infrastructure and automotive development.

A balance of the results and conclusions of SIMBA national research developments throughout the two years of the project was presented at the workshop.

Mr Hermann Meyer, ERTICO Chief Executive Officer, opened the activities by welcoming participants. He highlighted the importance of international cooperation, how it can be used to establish European standards in other parts of the world and how it leverages capacity in both directions.

Mr Philippe Vialatte, European Commission DG Research, provided information about active international cooperation in research policies. He offered an overview of the European 7th Framework Programme in international research. Mr Vialatte reminded everyone that concrete actions can make a difference, which is why projects like SIMBA are important.

Mr Patrick Mercier-Handyside from the European Commission’s DG Research unit then outlined transport opportunities in the EU’s 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7) in terms of structure, themes and budget.  Special attention was dedicated to transport where the objectives are to develop safer, greener and smarter transport systems. FP7 new aspects include the possibility of third countries to participate in EC-funded research projects, and a focus in reciprocity to enhance global research networks. Mr Mercier-Handyside also took the opportunity to announce the 2nd Road Transport Research Conference taking place in Ljubljana, Slovenia from 21-24 April 2008.

ERTICO Project Manager and SIMBA Project Coordinator, Mariana Andrade gave an overview on the activities and achievements of SIMBA over the past two years. The project held 10 events in total in Europe, Brazil, China, India and South Africa and produced reports on the state of the art of road transport as well as the priorities and needs for those countries. SIMBA has also created a network of key stakeholders that will be perpetuated beyond the finalisation of the project.

Mr Steve Philips, Secretary General of FEHRL, presented the conclusions of the SIMBA project studies. One of the aims of SIMBA has been to ensure that transport remains a priority and is kept on the political agenda. Successful research depends on successful partnerships, SIMBA has been positive in this respect. Since research cooperation is built on trust, it is important to have trust amongst partners.

Cooperation projects
Concrete recommendations from the SIMBA project for cooperation projects (CPs) include electronic toll collection, ITS for public transport, integrated traffic management, incident detection and emergency response, pavement management systems/bridge management systems, alternative and recycled construction materials, heavy vehicles and road wear, alternative fuels, vehicle and pedestrian safety, public transport systems based on buses and security systems in goods transports.

The Inaugural Session was followed by the National Results Session. General presentations that assessed SIMBA countries’ development in ITS, infrastructure and automotive and their current priorities for cooperation with the EU were featured.

International perspectives
Dr Aravind Bharadwaj, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, presented the latest perspective of India priorities and established concrete expert working groups composed by Europeans and Indians in common areas of interest including hybrid vehicles, biodiesel, integrated telematics, road user charging, advanced traffic management, CPUC’s, public transport, driving patterns on four lane roads, and pedestrian/bicycle impact with regard to buses and trucks.

Eng Wang Meng, ITS China, outlined the current road issues in China, stressing the need to create EU-China working groups in the fields of traffic information and management (eCall, GPS based road pricing, mobile data for traffic management and dynamic navigation systems), public transportation and safety (accident data statistics, onboard generic terminal, engineering, education, enforcement and share experience from initiating and conducting eSafety).

Mr Daniel Zacarias, Associação Brasileira de Engenharia Automotiva, presented the latest priorities for road transportation in Brazil. Mr Zacarias proposed the creation of three main working groups in the fields of integrated traffic management/real-time traffic information, infrastructure and automotive.

Pr Eng Kobus Labuschagne, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa, offered an overview of the current priorities in South Africa and proposed the establishment of EU-SA working groups in the areas of public transport, traffic monitoring, management and city planning, environment and infrastructure asset management.

A great success!
During the concluding session, Mariana Andrade outlined the great success of the project through the establishment of contacts and creation of a network of key stakeholders in Brazil, China, India and South Africa, concretely through building good, solid relationships with government, private industry and research institutions.

The SIMBA project has defined the needs and priorities of the countries involved and based on that has defined potential EU-country working groups that will take these to the next level by conducting feasibility studies and preparing for possible future demonstrations.

The work of SIMBA will continue through the SIMBA II project and the enthusiasm and hard work of local and EU stakeholders involved so far. These ties will bring benefits to the countries involved – joint projects between EU and local stakeholders that will lead to safer, more efficient roads. This is the beginning of partnerships that will be perpetuated in the years to come.

For further information on SIMBA, please visit www.simbaproject.org

ERTICO CEO Hermann Meyer	SIMBA participants from China, Brazil, India, South Africa and Europe	SIMBA Project Coordinator Mariana Andrade