The British High Commission in Singapore is to host a reception on Wednesday (October 23) at the ITS World Congress, which is taking place this week at the Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre .
At the event, which will take place on the UK Pavilion, stand 407, at 3pm, deputy high commissioner, Alexandra McKenzie (left), will be joined by the United Kingdom Department for Transport’s chief scientific adviser Professor Phil Blythe, and they will reveal more about the leading role the UK is taking in connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV).
Speaking exclusively to Traffic Technology Today, ITS (UK) secretary general Jennie Martin (below), said the event would be an excellent opportunity to discuss greater collaboration between the UK and Singapore and the whole of Asia.
“I’m really happy this is happening, because there are so many great innovations coming out of Asia, and China in particularly, in the connected vehicle world,” said Martin. “China has really caught up with the rest of the world and I think they can now show us just as many new things as we can them. So, it’s time to work together.
“That’s part of the reason it’s great have the World Congress here in Singapore. We are already fairly well connected with Asia, but there’s room to do it even better. The future with China is collaboration.”
Speaking ahead of the event the newly appointed British high commissioner to Singapore, Kara Owen (left), commented: “The UK and Singapore enjoy a deep and historic relationship which underpins the forward-looking and collaboration-driven SG-UK Partnership for the Future. Our two countries share the challenges and opportunities of modern and innovative nations and are both leaders in transport innovation. I’m delighted to see such a strong UK presence at the ITS World Congress as this will only help to further encourage cooperation between the two countries in this exciting area.”
Also speaking ahead of the event the UK’s Minister of State for the Department for Transport George Freeman MP said: “We are on the cusp of a transport revolution in the UK, with new technologies creating huge opportunities for cleaner, cheaper, safer and more reliable journeys.
“The UK Government is actively supporting industry in the research and development of new technologies and helping SMEs and industry to draw benefits for both the economy and the environment, through the Future of Mobility Grand Challenge, our Transport Decarbonisation Plan and the creation of a new Minister for the Future of Transport.
“The ITS World Congress is a global stage to show off the UK’s innovative SMEs, academic expertise, development facilities and progressive legislation. The businesses we have on show demonstrate how exciting the future of mobility is in the UK.”
Among the companies that can be found at the UK Pavilion are self-driving vehicle manufacturers Aurrigo, connected transport innovators, Grid Smarter Cities and cutting-edge simulation software providers, Latent Logic and Immense Simulations respectively. Big data mapping firm Basemap will be demonstrating their software solution for dealing with electric vehicle ‘range anxiety’. Meanwhile British electric aerial taxi-port pioneers, Skyports, have already unveiled their first VoloPort.
