The network of national Intelligent Transport Systems associations has hosted its first annual awards ceremony in the Swiss capital Bern, and honoured ITS veteran Trond Hovland with the title “Network Person of the Year”.
The five winners were:
- National Policy Champion Award (sponsored by The Traffic Group) – ITS Austria
- Membership Champion Award (sponsored by Ohmio) – Connekt, ITS Netherlands
- Next Generation Champion Award (sponsored by IDASO) – Intelligent Transport Systems UK
- Excellence in Transportation Award (sponsored by Neology) – ITS Türkiye
- Network Person of the Year Award (sponsored by SWARCO) – Trond Hovland, ITS Norway
Mr Hovland won the award, sponsored by SWARCO, in honour not only of his work in the last year, but for a career championing transport technology. He has been Managing Director of ITS Norway since 2009 and before that worked for the Norwegian Public Roads Administration for almost 18 years, holding several management positions and heading up large ICT procurement projects in the road and traffic data sector.
He has been recognised for his success at ITS Norway, working hard to raise the awareness of ITS and to establish national-wide structures for information exchange for seamless transportation services.
“I’m astonished and really, really happy,” said Mr Hovland. “I’ve always been on committees that award to other people – I’m not used to winning them myself. I am retiring from ITS Norway next year so it’s good to have recognition for the years I have put into ITS Norway, ITS Nationals and Nordic plus.”
The awards celebrate the best of the ITS Nationals Network, and were introduced as part of the 20th Anniversary of the organisation. They are designed to get national associations thinking about what they do really well, so best practice in running an association and supporting paying members can be shared across the continent and beyond.
The National Policy Champion Award (sponsored by The Traffic Group) went to ITS Austria for its success in influencing ITS policy on a national level during the past year. Its work included running working groups on data, legal frameworks, integrated traffic management and mobility, and dissemination and promotion of digital services. ITS Austria also prepared and initiated several national funding programmes and projects both in the country and across Europe.
The Ohmio-sponsored Membership Champion Award went to ITS Connekt from the Netherlands for its work helping its members. This included presenting members’ opinions on its government’s Mobility Vision 2050 to the Director-General Mobility at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water, taking a highly-visible role promoting Dutch ITS at the Intertraffic Amsterdam event, and a similar high-profile pavilion at the ITS World Congress in Dubai.
The Next Generation Champion Award, sponsored by IDASO, went to Intelligent Transport Systems UK for its longstanding support of early careers professionals. Other Network Associations commented that ITS UK’s activities in its Early Careers Forum, and also Women in ITS is “something that we all could or even should adapt”. The ITS UK Early Careers Forum provides a focus for the younger generation of ITS professionals, holding regular events to inform and create networks, with a particular interest in training, career development and qualifications in ITS, and an annual essay competition.
ITS Türkiye won the Neology-sponsored Excellence in Transportation Award, agreed to stand out as being the most active and effective in its country during the past year. Through the year it has held its fourth international ITS summit, its “Path of the Mind Awards in Transportation”, a number of academic studies and activities, dissemination of national ITS projects, a series of webinars promoting ITS to the wider transport community in Türkiye, and a series of events during mobility week.
“The ITS Nationals Network complements the sharing of best practice by individual national ITS associations, and in turn helps them support their members,” explained Network Chair Dónal Hodgins. “These awards have been a great way to learn more about what individual members do, sharing experiences and helping us all better serve our individual members on a national level. I also would like to take the opportunity to thank our sponsors for putting their trust in ITS Nationals for our inaugural awards.”
The judging was led by former ITS UK Secretary General Jennie Martin MBE. “I was part of the team that set up the Network 20 years ago,” she said, “and I was immensely proud to see the great work done by so many associations who weren’t even formed when we started the Network. I look forward to seeing the awards flourish and encourage more innovation and knowledge sharing.”
The ITS Nationals network remit includes developing and sharing best practice in running ITS National Associations, connecting the fee-paying members of ITS National Associations to each other, the sharing of news and research to better inform members of ITS National Associations, sharing case studies and promotional materials to further the implementation of ITS and supporting members of the ITS National Associations to attend National, European and Global ITS Congresses, and to support ERTICO and other bodies with the delivery of them.
The awards took place in Bern ahead of the organisation’s plenary meeting in the city, and were possible thanks to the financial support of the five sponsors which ITS Nationals has asked Highways News to detail:
At The Traffic Group, our smart radars and ANPR cameras detect, demand, count, signal, manage and report on vehicles & pedestrians at approaches, intersections, highways, wait zones and crossings. We work with highways authorities, system integrators, enforcement agencies and parking operators to solve traffic control problems and to support government initiatives. Our solutions are known for their ease of integration, and interact with Smart City systems or legacy controllers to provide the high-value data and video critical to enhancing safety and efficiency”
Ohmio is a New Zealand-based manufacturer of autonomous vehicles, founded on the pioneering innovations of HMI—an innovator in intelligent transport systems—essentially “HMI on wheels.” Both Ohmio and HMI aim to improve transport safety and efficiency worldwide. Ohmio has achieved milestones like creating the world’s first 3D-printed vehicle, the first 5G-connected vehicle, and designs catering to people with disabilities. Committed to collaboration, Ohmio works with various partners to develop a future-proof transport system today, with numerous deployments now in Europe and the UK.
Established in 2014 IDASO specialises in providing traffic, transport and mobility data for use in Strategic Planning, Traffic Impact Assessments, Property Management and Retail Assessments, along with optimisation of existing transport management systems. IDASO stands for innovative data collection, we pride ourselves in supplying accurate timely data in a fully GDPR compliant manner.
Neology, Inc is a global technology company headquartered in Carlsbad, California, with manufacturing and operations facilities in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. We’re partnering with our customers to [re]imagine mobility by combining Artificial Intelligence with state-of-the-art tolling, automated vehicle identification and classification, data processing, and digital payment systems – all delivered with superior service. It’s our mission to help communities around the world enhance mobility, increase sustainability, improve safety, and generate increased revenue.
SWARCO has an international network of production facilities, offices, and partners across the globe. Together, we offer one of the most complete solution portfolios for road marking, signage, urban traffic management, parking, highway and tunnel management, public transport, and street lighting. We connect vehicles with the road infrastructure, help in setting up charging infrastructure to boost electro-mobility, and offer modular and holistic solutions that support tomorrow’s mobility and make our communities more liveable.
(Picture – ITS Nationals)
