The UK’s Intelligent Transport Society, ITS- UK is introducing a new award for projects that advance mobility for the disadvantaged and is renaming its young professionals award to recognize the influence of an industry leader.
ITS-UK’s new Best Technical Initiative to Improve Inclusive Mobility Award will recognize companies that have introduced a solution which helps disabled, young, old or otherwise disadvantaged people improve their travel experience. The inaugural award will be made at the ITS-UK President’s Dinner at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on October 16. The organization is also renaming its Young Professionals award after former ITS-UK chairman, Eric Sampson CBE. The prize for best ITS young professional will now be known as the Sampson Young Professionals Award in recognition of the former Department for Transport (DfT) technology innovator’s work mentoring young people throughout his long and distinguished career.
“We already have the Rees-Hills Award for Outstanding Personal Contribution in honor of two other industry stalwarts, and we’re delighted to honor Eric in the same way and to welcome him to our dinner in November. So many people in the industry owe thanks to Eric for giving them a helping hand at the start of their career, and there really is nobody better to name our Young Professional Award after,” explained ITS-UK’s secretary general, Jennie Martin. “We are also very excited about recognizing the work our members do to help inclusive mobility. Our Inclusive Mobility Forum does great work analyzing promoting technology as a way to help people travel more easily and safer, and the well-attended debate at the recent Traffex conference confirmed the importance of the issue, so it is only right and proper that those who innovate get formal, high profile, recognition.”
Sampson commented, “I was very pleasantly surprised by the Society’s decision. At the start of my career I was supported by some wise officials (and Ministers) who told me, ‘The only way to do something you haven’t done before, is to do it for the first time’. I learnt a lot personally from that, but also learned that you have to help the young professionals with these first steps, so ever since, I’ve tried to give those chances when I’ve been in a position to do so.”
