Ministerial Round Table with top-class political cast
declares to commonly force the deployment of Intelligent Transport
Systems
Vienna (OTS/BMVIT) - During one week the 19th ITS
World Congress showcased the latest developments within the field
of Intelligent Transport Systems to an expert audience and also to
the public at large on the Public Day. Doris Bures, Austrian
Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology, on whose
initiative the ITS World Congress took place in Vienna for the
first time, summarises positively: "The ITS Vienna 2012 ultimately
marks the evolvement from a purely scientific congress into an
event that shows actual products and renders the benefits of new
developments visible." The development phase of new traffic
technologies is finished - "they are about to make the step from
the laboratory to the street."
With more than 10,000 participants from 90 countries the
19th ITS World Congress set a new record in the number
of visitors. With 2,000 attendees (and only 1,600 seats), the
Opening Ceremony on the first day of the congress was already more
than well-frequented. Among all congress participants were 2,090
women, which amounts to a share of 21 percent. The Public Day
attracted about 2,400 visitors and produced big interest among
pupils. Over 900 children and adolescents, ranging from primary
school to senior classes, participated in the guided tours across
the congress venue to discover all interesting details about the
exhibition and the demonstration programme. The media also showed
big interest in the ITS Vienna 2012 and despatched 183 journalists
in total.
Austrian companies contributed to 15 projects of the demo
programme. Of 23 technical demonstrations overall, eight took place
in the real traffic of Vienna. This emphasises the acknowledgement
for ITS being ready for deployment. The whole demonstration
programme was centrally organised by AustriaTech, which caused a
lot of positive feedback and promises to be regarded as a new
best-practice for future congresses. Overall, 2,480 demos were
conducted, with 550 people already participating on the first day.
The specially developed smartphone app Kongressnavigator was very
popular as well: Over 1,500 people downloaded it for their iPhone
or Android device.
The exhibition featured over 300 companies and ventures
from 25 nations, showcasing their visions about future mobility.
Over 4,500 exhibition visitors made use of this diversity. The
exhibition staff involved 2,400 people in total who knew very well
how to competently inform visitors about their activities in
ITS.
The 19th ITS World Congress in Austria was the first
to feature a Ministerial Round Table with a top-class political
cast: Apart from Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European
Commission, the German transport minister Peter Ramsauer, ten
international ministers, four vice-ministers and two state
secretaries participated in the political discussion under the
direction of Doris Bures, Austrian Minister of Transport,
Innovation and Technology. They commonly declared to force the
deployment of ITS and to stronger integrate the outcomes of future
ITS World Congresses into the structuring of political
frameworks.
"We want to manage the increase of mobility efficiently and
environmentally friendly. Intelligent Transport Systems in general
as well as the conjunction of all means of transport are part of a
forward-looking transport policy to shape traffic systems safer,
cleaner, more efficient and more comfortable", states minister
Doris Bures.
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