Skip to main content

First Middle East ITS conference and exhibition

The first Middle East conference and exhibition on ITS, held in December 2006 in Dubai, was opened by His Excellency Eng. Abdullah Al- Mogbel, the president of ITS Arab and Deputy Minister of Transport, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two-day conference, the theme of which was 'Shaping the Future with ITS Solutions', focused on traffic safety, congestion, security and demand management. H.E Eng. Abdullah Al-Mogbel said, "ITS Arab will play a vital role in the development of sustainable ITS deployments across t
March 12, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
The first Middle East conference and exhibition on ITS, held in December 2006 in Dubai, was opened by His Excellency Eng. Abdullah Al- Mogbel, the president of 1697 ITS Arab and Deputy Minister of Transport, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The two-day conference, the theme of which was 'Shaping the Future with ITS Solutions', focused on traffic safety, congestion, security and demand management.

H.E Eng. Abdullah Al-Mogbel said, "ITS Arab will play a vital role in the development of sustainable ITS deployments across the Middle East and North Africa in partnership with the regional and international ITS community".

Fabrizio Minarini, Head of Sector, Intelligent Car Initiative, 1690 European Commission, praised ITS Arab and expressed support from the European Commission to the conference.
Richard Barnes, London Assembly Member: "It is now an accepted policy across all the main political parties in the United Kingdom that ITS is an absolute must. The problem we have is that we are not sure what ITS means, why we are doing it, and we have not fully developed an integrated approach." Barnes shared his experience in policy development that provided thought-provoking debates and provided a political balance from a European perspective. His contribution provided the link between ITS and security, reinforcing the importance of developing and communicating clear ITS policy objectives to the wider public.

Barnes's view was echoed by the Dr Essam Sharaf, former Minister of Transport, Egypt, who suggested the use of asset management systems as an approach to communicating ITS objectives and benefits to politicians and the general public. Dr Sharaf added, "Studies from around the world have concluded that the transport infrastructure satisfies both the natural human desire to mobility, as well as being vital for economical prosperity, and therefore ranks transport infrastructure as one of the most important projects." "The key word is integration, by marrying transport infrastructure with ITS technologies we will see a completely new type of transport infrastructure that looks the same but will provide a new way of delivering mobility function." The business case for ITS benefits was reinforced by Riyadh Dabbo, Managing Director, Arab Road Safety Organisation, when he presented the shocking statistics regarding human losses, which show that within the Arab countries there are 32,000 traffic fatalities every year. Worldwide the transport fatalities total 1.2 million with 12 million injuries. "In terms of human losses, we have a 9/11 every day around the world," Dabbo said.

%$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal www.nfm-bauma.de www.nfm-bauma.de false http://www.nfm-bauma.de/ false false%>

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • A warm welcome to CARTES Secure Connexions Event 2013
    November 19, 2013
    Welcome to this 28th edition of CARTES Secure Connexions Event - nearly 30 years of enabling global synergies at a human and technological level CARTES is the world’s leading exhibition dedicated to secure solutions for payment, identification and mobility. Since its creation in Paris in 1985, CARTES has become the industry’s premier show – and this 2013 edition brings together more than 450 exhibitors who have come to present their products and services to 20,000 visitors from 140 countries.
  • ITS World Congress exhibition space selling fast
    February 9, 2016
    With an expected 7,000 attendees from all over the world, the 23rd ITS World provides an opportunity for participants to create business opportunities and connect with industry buyers, partners, investors and developers. Exhibition booths are selling fast, view the floor plan for remaining prime positions, or contact our Sales Manager directly at [email protected].
  • Third generation signs spell a bright future for Swarco
    April 23, 2013
    Swarco Traffic Americas has introduced its third generation of optic LED dynamic message signs (DMS) to the North American market. The third generation signs deliver contrast ratios more than double the NEMA TS4 requirement and are said to use a fraction of the power consumed by its competitors’ signs.
  • ITS America appoints new technical editor
    April 24, 2013
    ITS America has chosen Dr John Miles as technical editor for a new web-based resource on ITS. With funding from the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), the society plans to publish in mid-2014 in partnership with the World Road Association (PIARC) on the latter’s website.