Hundreds of professionals from Australia’s intelligent transport sector, alongside leaders from across the Asia Pacific, will assemble in Sydney from August 13-15 to tackle the nation’s biggest transportation issues at the annual ITS Australia Summit.
Over three days of plenary and panel sessions, workshops, technical tours, demonstrations, and networking events, Summit 2024 attendees will explore the latest technology-led solutions that can advance Australia’s aspirational transport goals around safety, sustainability, and inclusivity.
ITS Australia CEO Susan Harris says the annual Summit is an opportunity for critical discussions between policymakers and industry on how best to collaborate to deliver meaningful solutions at scale.
“Over the last 12 months, our sector has been grappling with several big issues – how to leverage new data sources equitably and with appropriate privacy protections in place; tackling the nation’s increasing road toll, which is defying our ambitious safety targets; and implementing new policies and in turn, rolling out the vehicles and infrastructure that will realise our sector’s sustainability goals,” says Harris. “The ITS Summit is a critical forum for debating these big issues and turning ideas into action. Crucially, bringing together representatives from across the country for three days supports the development of solutions that can be delivered in a nationally harmonised manner. Without such agreements, progress will be much harder.”
To enable attendees to participate in these important conversations, this year’s program has been developed around six major themes:
Smart Infrastructure and Data Ecosystems
…will explore innovative strategies to seamlessly integrate smart infrastructure while harnessing the power of data-driven insights to optimise efficiency and enhance connectivity.
Sustainable and Inclusive Transport
…examines the equitable deployment of technology, addressing barriers to access while advancing sustainable solutions to curb emissions and promote long-term environmental responsibility.
Electric, Connected, and Automated Vehicles
…explores the transformative journey, encompassing not only connected and automated vehicles but also the rising prevalence of electric and shared vehicles.
Future Mobility
…explores one of transport’s fastest-growing segments, unpacking how we can collaborate with customer-centric, demand-responsive transport initiatives that embody a global shift toward sustainable and accessible mobility.
Governance Framework
…explores the vital role of policies in accelerating transport innovation with an emphasis on delivering robust regulations for safeguarding critical infrastructure from physical and digital threats.
Freight and Services
…propels the freight and logistics industries into a new era characterised by automation, intelligence, the integration of drones and multimodality, and the regulatory reforms required to support the sector.
A committee of passionate leaders from policy, industry, and academia across the country will deliver the 2024 program. Co-chair of the Program Committee, Adele Beachley, executive director of SCATS at Transport for NSW, the Summit’s host state partner, reflects on the significance of the approach to developing this year’s broad agenda: “Our Committee, which represents all facets of Australia’s broad ITS industry, has convened over many months to curate a thought provoking agenda that will challenge the sector to collaborate over three days in Sydney, to deliver ideas and pragmatic solutions to the real world transport challenges we face as a nation.
“The theme of collaborations to deliver unified solutions is a key pillar of our approach at Transport for NSW as we continue to build a better transport system in Australia’s largest State.
“A shining example of this is the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) – a NSW Government delivered solution that through national and international collaboration now operates in 63,000 intersections across 216 cities in 32 countries.”
Michael Hopkins, CEO of the National Transport Commission, who will deliver a keynote address in Sydney, sees the Summit as an opportunity to continue the critical conversation with industry on how the NTC is delivering the regulatory and legislative reform needed for the introduction of automated vehicles to Australian roads: “There are some consistent themes coming through globally and locally on the issues we need to address to get ready for AVs. Perceptions of safety have declined over the last couple of years and industry recognises this needs to improve. There is broad consensus that getting the regulatory environment right is critical.
“This year’s Summit is an opportunity to talk about the challenges Australia faces in not only landing a new national law, but in lining up state and territory regulations to create a nationally consistent approach,” Hopkins concludes.
The ITS Australia Summit 2024 will take place from 13 to 15 August at Sydney’s International Convention Centre, exploring approaches to safe, sustainable and inclusive transport to deliver vibrant communities.
