2021 Review of the Year

Rukshan Soysa December 17, 2021 6 min read 0

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Picking up from a year which was unduly interrupted by the start of a pandemic, ITS (UK) have continued to maximise the opportunities and its resources to ensure we stay relevant and resourceful whilst continuing to provide an excellent service for our Members.  By the end of 2020, our virtual programme of Forum webinars and online meetings was well established.  We are pleased to say once again we have produced a consistent stream of virtual meetings and events instigated by our own Forums, ITS partners as well as our international ITS counterparts. 

Some of the key highlights included –

• A total of 27 Forum meetings, nearly all of which took place virtually via Zoom and most of these meetings were recorded and available to view on our YouTube channel.   We were pleased to announce the inception of two new Forums, the Data Forum and the Active Travel Forum both of which had excellent launch events

The COP26 themed joint meeting between the Early Careers and Smart Environment Forum (below) explored the carbon issue and climate change and how ITS (UK) can contribute to this ongoing scenario.

In March to celebrate International Women’s Day our Executive Members Cubic helped us to host a meeting for the WITS Forum (above) which tackled some key topics such as diversity and inclusion, the gender data gap and ECVP infrastructure.   

• In May we were proud to host a Virtual Business Forum event with ITS Finland and ITS Estonia (below) that involved ministerial addresses and a panel discussion along with the opportunity for relevant companies within each country to meet each other in pre-arranged one to one virtual meetings.  This was another useful step forwards in international collaboration between our ITS partners across the world

• Also within the international theme, our webinar series with ITS Australia continued through the year and we held dedicated sessions for ITS Malaysia, Smart Mobility Embassy (ITS Netherlands), ITS Nigeria

• In October, we were present at the UK stand at the 2021 ITS World Congress (below) that took place in Hamburg, along with 11 UK based SMEs, where they showcased their innovative solutions and established some meaningful connections.  A hugely successful event, we saw more than 70 ministers, mayors and industry leaders along with other government representatives to explore and discuss in more detail how smarter and green ITS technology and mobility can influence the future transport landscape.  Our Ambassador, Eric Sampson released his summary of the event

• The 2020 Awards ceremony last year was celebrated virtually and we were grateful to our hosts Cubic for hosting this year’s 2021 Awards event at their venue in Redhill.  Along with a entertaining Members Day that took place earlier in the day, the Awards winners were honoured in five separate categories.  The highest honour, the Rees Hills for Lifetime Achievement went to a previous ITS (UK) Chair, Ian Patey of WSP (below)

In October we held our first hybrid event – the Smart Environment Forum meeting which honoured Margaret Bell (Newcastle University) as she stepped down from her Forum Chair role after more than two decades.  We intend to continue to build a programme of potential hybrid Forum meetings and other events for 2022, depending on circumstances.  We recognise the need for face to face networking, knowledge sharing and the importance of genuine interactions within the ITS community.  Aside from our Forum meetings, we held one off meetings examining more specialist topics such as weather data and ITS, procuring ITS software, a bid writing class for SME Members and how to work effectively in the Middle East to name a few.  We continue to build our relationship with the Network of ITS Nationals, work closely with the DfT and local authorities and our ITS (UK) ten point Manifesto began to have individual discussions with dedicated teams for each point. 

Other key headline activities and news include:

• Due to the current global focus on tackling climate change and the role that transport plays within that, we appointed an official ITS (UK) Carbon Ambassador, Keith McCabe of Simplifai Systems 
• We published an official response to the Government’s new Transport Decarbonisation Plan which commits to net zero transport by 2050
• A Day in the Life Series which featured a specific individual Member about his/her working life was showcased on our website
• We were pleased to witness a high proportion of our Members attending both Highways UK and Road Expo Scotland
• At Highways UK, a session led by key transport experts heard that urgent changes are required now for a NetZero future with a key date of 2040 to target
• The JCT Traffic Signals Symposium, in Nottingham was our first in-person event since 2019, where we had an exhibition stand and were thrilled to meet some of our Members face to face for the first time since the pandemic
• We continue to improve our website functionality by creating more user-friendly access and relevant content.   Our social media influence through LinkedIn, YouTube, twitter and Eventbrite continue to grow and gain a loyal following

2021 saw an excellent year in terms of Membership as we welcomed a total of 30 new Members joining ITS (UK).  A detailed list of those organisations with their respective membership categories are below.

Finally we would like to THANK YOU for supporting us through another productive year and ensuring we continue to provide an excellent and efficient service as a membership organisation.   

Wishing you a Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2022!

Regards,

The ITS (UK) Team

“The annual subscription is no more than you would pay to attend just one major conference, and allows all members of your organisation to attend talks by international experts at highly professional seminars and conferences practically every day of the year.”

Alan Stevens/John Preston/John Walker, University of Southampton

“If you want to be close to the latest development in ITS technologies within the UK, I can’t think of a better place to start.  With a range of forums covering pretty much every aspect of ITS, membership is a fast track way to getting involved with the organisations shaping the future of the sector.” 

Geoff Collins, Jenoptik

“ITS UK’s network is vast and one of the main benefits we see is the ability to be connected to individuals or organisations that may help us in activities we are undertaking within Cubic. ITS UKs knowledge of the industry is exceptional and though reports that are published, the weekly emails, the forum groups and the staff – there is always lots of information available at your fingertips to keep you up to speed.”  

Cubic