On his return from the ITS World Congress in Dubai, the USDOT’s ITS JPO director Brian Cronin, who has attended 25 out of the 30 congresses held so far, published these reflections on the event in his Telling The Story blog
The Dubai ITS World Congress was an amazing success, filled with informational presentations, government-to-government meetings, and great networking opportunities. I want to thank ITS America President and CEO, Laura Chace, and her team for galvanizing an impressive delegation of US experts to attend and showcase US innovation and leadership in the development and deployment at scale of ITS solutions.
The ITS Joint Program Office, Federal Highway Administration, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology represented the US government at the World Congress presenting on the Saving Lives with Connectivity National V2X Deployment Plan, the Intersection Safety Challenge, Integrated and Multimodal ITS, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Infrastructure, and so much more. In addition, I would like to congratulate Shailen Bhatt on his Lifetime Achievement Award in ITS presented at the World Congress.
Did you know that several members of the US delegation have attend more than 25 of the 30 ITS World Congresses? We owe a lot to their leadership and commitment and years of advancing the development of the program and activities present in each ITS World Congress.
While there were many observations and lessons learned this year, I will highlight a few key items. First, the US leads the world in the advancement of V2X – check out the ITS JPO V2X website. Our Saving Lives with Connectivity National V2X Deployment Plan was the foremost document discussed, and in my Opening Keynote I outlined a challenge to everyone in attendance to engage with the US delegation to learn about the plan, and to identify opportunities to help us successfully implement the plan.
As we tell the story about why this is so important, I urge you to talk about the construction workers that will arrive home safely, the friends and colleagues that will walk, bike, or roll to their destinations safely, and the mobility benefits that will allow the system to operate more efficiently. Those safety results resonate and are why I, and so many colleagues across the Department, are so committed to V2X.
Next, Digital Infrastructure is a topic being discussed across the world. With advancements in connectivity, data services, technology infrastructure, and critical safety and mobility needs, the confluence of these items is driving a digital transformation.
Dr. Firas Ibrahim, director of the office of RD&T and the Department’s deputy chief science officer, discussed the importance of digital infrastructure during his plenary session, describing the Department’s plans for advancing a strategy to utilize digital infrastructure to integrate the modes beyond the roads to achieve our Vision Zero and Net Zero emission grand challenges.
Dr Ibrahim announced a new partnership between OST-Research and ITS America to create a United States Transportation Digital Infrastructure Strategy and a joint EU-US symposium on the future transportation system-of-systems, to be held in partnership with the European Commission and the National Academy of Sciences in the summer of 2025 in Brussels, Belgium.
The other watchword in Dubai was deployment. This ITS World Congress witnessed our discussions turning from research and technology to policy and deployment. While research will always be at the forefront of advancing our transportation system, around the world we are seeing the fruits of years of research as technologies are being deployed to save lives, make systems more efficient and resilient, and provide mobility to all.
AASHTO, ITE, and ITS America continued to collaborate with USDOT to bring a delegation of State Department of Transportation and City DOT CEOs to the event this year. AASHTO hosted the International Day Forum to discuss key global advances in ITS. These leaders, combined with private sector and university leaders, ensured a dynamic and robust conversation throughout the week.
As the week ended, we turned to our friends in Georgia who will host the 31st ITS World Congress in Atlanta, Georgia in August 2025. We will have an amazing opportunity to showcase to the world our progress on implementing the Saving Lives with Connectivity National V2X Plan, as well as present and demonstrate numerous ITS innovations and deployment lessons learned from throughout the country. Start making your plans. I hope to see you there.
Brian Cronin, Director, ITS JPO
