Skip to main content

ITS Australia and ITS Canada sign MOU

At the 2012 World Congress, ITS Australia and ITS Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to foster the development and deployment of ITS technologies in both countries. The two nations share many common elements impacting the deployment of intelligent transportation technologies, including large land masses with relatively sparse populations, long inter-urban corridors, and a heavy economic dependence on international trade, much of it resource based.
October 23, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
At the 2012 World Congress, 858 ITS Australia and 74 ITS Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to foster the development and deployment of ITS technologies in both countries.

The two nations share many common elements impacting the deployment of intelligent transportation technologies, including large land masses with relatively sparse populations, long inter-urban corridors, and a heavy economic dependence on international trade, much of it resource based.

The MOU will permit exchanges of ITS professionals and information, educational and professional development initiatives, and the joint marketing and promotion of events in each country. Specifically, among other initiatives, the two organisations will take advantage of a suite of courses recently developed by ITS Canada to determine their applicability and application in Australia.

Melbourne based ITS Australia has also been named the host of the 2016 6456 ITS World Congress, and the organisations will work jointly to enhance Canadian participation. Canada is vying for the 2017 World Congress in Canada, and the two organisations will work collaboratively to maximise the success of the bid.

ITS Australia President Brian Negus said his organisation is excited to announce the establishment of a formal MOU with ITS Canada. "Our nations face many similar challenges with congested urban areas and busy ports combined with the contrast of large remote areas and extreme climates," he said.  

"We look forward to collaborating more closely regarding ITS developments specifically across the business case for ITS, advanced traveller information systems, connected vehicles, as well as national and regional ITS architecture. We will also look to opportunities to collaborate on the education and professional development of ITS professionals in both countries,” said Brian Negus.

ITS Canada Chair Scott Stewart added: “As ITS has emerged as a mainstream technology, the global issues surrounding congestion, safety, and sustainability must be addressed through international collaboration. This MOU is an excellent step forward.”

Related Content

  • January 30, 2012
    GIS mapping smoothes ITS operations and increases efficiencies
    Alexander Gerschenkron, the famous economic historian, once posited a benefit for those countries which come late to economic development: that they could introduce the latest technology and thus jump over some of the standard development paths followed by their predecessors . It is entirely possible to make the same observation of late-comers to ITS: that they can gain from the pains of those who went before and more easily implement best practice in ITS. As a consequence, it is entirely likely the Abu Dha
  • June 25, 2018
    US Cities push for smarter poles
    US Cities The need to connect existing infrastructure has led various US transit authorities into imaginative alleyways: David Crawford examines some new roles for street furniture. US cities are vying with each other in developing schemes to create a new generation of connected places. Their strategies include taking advantage of their streetlight poles’ height and ubiquity to give them new roles in supporting intelligent nodes. They are now being equipped for collecting real-time data on key transport
  • April 30, 2015
    US budget proposals seek recognise ITS benefits
    President Obama’s latest budget brings some good news for the transportation and ITS sectors. President Obama’s proposed 2016 budget could see more progress on many of America’s ingrained transportation problems than has been achieved in some time and includes a six-year $478 billion surface transportation reauthorisation. That is, of course, provided it clears all of the administrative hurdles to become law.
  • February 1, 2012
    EU project to make urban freight management more sustainable
    Urban freight policies are becoming more common in European cities and regions. However, it is still difficult to evaluate and transfer the knowledge gained from the different city logistics measures implemented by local authorities. The SUGAR project aims to tackle this by establishing a systematic approach towards best practices identification and assessment, and by developing urban freight plans and actions.