With less than three months to go until Melbourne holds the 23rd ITS World Congress, the host, ITS Australia, has revealed that more Australian and international speakers have been added to the growing list of globally renowned transportation experts.
Following the recent confirmation of Jack Dangermond, founder and president of global mapping technology company Esri, as a keynote speaker at the Smart Cities plenary session, the organizers have announced that he will be joined by Hamad Banouar (below right), vice president of business development and government relations at Sensys Networks, one of the world leaders in wireless vehicle detection systems.
They will share the stage with: Men Leong Chew, chief executive of the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore; Mike Mrdak, secretary of the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development at the Australian government; with Neil Scales, director general of Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, as moderator. The session will focus on how technological advancements made in ITS should be embraced by governments in order to enhance the safety, infrastructure and efficiency of systems for future liveability in cities and communities.
Another new speaker is Matthew Cole, president of US-based Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS), a leading integrator of payment, information technology and travel services that is well known for being the mastermind behind London’s revolutionary Oyster card and ‘contactless’ payment system.
Cole (left) will be speaking at the Mobility as a Service plenary session, along with: keynote speaker Jeroen Wiemar, chief executive officer at Public Transport Victoria; Xiaojing Wang, chairman of the China ITS Industry Alliance; Richard Harris, director of communications and marketing for transportation and government international public sector at Xerox UK; Martin Matthews, secretary for transport and chief executive of New Zealand’s Ministry of Transport; and Dean Zabrieszach, chief executive of HMI Technologies, acting as moderator.
The World Congress is expected to attract more than 7,000 global delegates and will feature more than 900 sessions and 300 exhibitions, as well as more than a dozen technical tours designed to showcase the innovative features of Australia’s transport system. The program also includes the presentation of the new Autonomous Vehicle Award and the ITS Diversity in the Workforce Award.
World Congress host Susan Harris, CEO of ITS Australia, said, “The World Congress has always been a platform to showcase the latest technology to highlight advances in safety, vehicle and infrastructure technology, and in 2016 the enhanced liveability of our cities and communities. It’s encouraging to see registrations coming in from across the globe, and we’re receiving great interest in attendance from interstate and international ITS organizations. Within Australia, we are seeing strong interest from federal, state and local governments. Students and schools will play a significant role at the Congress and, in particular, I’m excited about the schools AutoCar programming challenge, the University Essay competition, and the international scholarship program, as well as welcoming members of the public to the Open Days.”
