Intelematics: five takeaways from ITS World Congress in Singapore

Having recently topped the world’s first Smart City Index, Singapore was the ideal host city for this year’s 6456 ITS World Congress and provided a fantastic opportunity to bring the International ITS community to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Themed ‘smart mobility, empowering cities,’ it was an enjoyable week full of networking and learning with some interesting sessions to attend and daring new ideas being shared.

Here are my five top takeaways:

1. The future of transport is here

This year's ITS World Congress showcased the progression of the industry and how the application of smart technology will help solve future transport challenges. The topics covered in the sessions were extensive and the solutions exhibited were of high quality. The common thread was that the future of transport is here now, and what were once ideas and trials are now in full production and in the market, with expansion and scaling on the horizon. Major topics throughout the event included improving safety and reducing carbon emissions, along with the introduction of new and more personal forms of on-demand transport options which require new infrastructure and policy outcomes to ensure successful scaling.
 
2. The role of vehicle manufacturers is evolving

Unlike past ITS World Congresses, the exhibition hall was almost devoid of cars. Vehicle manufacturers still had a strong presence at the exhibition, but greater focus was placed on Vehicle to Everything (V2X) systems, connected services and cars joining the Internet of Things (IoT). There was also greater focus on alternative modes of personal and mass transport including autonomous vehicles, micromobility and zero-emission transport.

3. MaaS applications are in use now

Discussions and white papers around Mobility as a Service (8356 MaaS) were prevalent throughout the Congress. As a result, there were varied perspectives on what encompasses MaaS and differing views on how it can benefit the travelling public. With real examples of MaaS applications now live, particularly across Europe, we can now start drawing more effective conclusions about MaaS and, as an industry, start building on what we’ve learned. With a focus on solving the interoperability of disparate systems and datasets we can start to open up this information for the greater benefit and reinforce the importance of strong public-private cooperation.

4. APAC has a lot to offer

With this year’s ITS World Congress being held in Singapore, it encouraged active participation from across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Singapore is a hub of innovation, and its leading ITS applications inspire new thinking. There was strong APAC representation in the sessions and within the exhibition, showcasing our ingenuity as a collective and the value we bring to the international ITS community. There were plenty of great conversations around new partnerships and sharing learnings from key projects. This set the scene for what is sure to be an exciting 2020 edition of the ITS Asia Pacific Conference, which will be held in Brisbane, Australia, next May.
 
5. Harmonise the data to realise its true value

Through developing and providing ITS solutions over many years, many organisations from all corners of the globe have captured and collected a huge amount of data.

This is creating new opportunities for organisations which provide services to assist with the realisation and the value of data assets. Key to maximising these is understanding the markets to which they are being applied, along with effective elimination of those parts of the datasets that don't provide real value.

This year’s ITS World Congress was a fantastic event and I personally enjoyed all my interactions with a diverse group of our industry’s top professionals. Looking forward to seeing you all again next year in Los Angeles.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Owens is chief operating officer of Intelematics