Participants on the Transport Technology Forum-led UK Pavilion at the ITS European Congress in Seville last week have spoken of the business leads they secured, saying it was a “unique opportunity to connect with stakeholders” and to “discover possible opportunities for British businesses.”
AECOM, AGD Systems, Agilysis, AIM, Immense, MAV, Nicander, Now Wireless, Teragence, VESOS and WJ participated on the UK Pavilion, which showcased a range of the country’s latest innovations in improving sustainability, transport network efficiency and safety. During the week the Pavilion also hosted a networking “afternoon tea” drinks reception sponsored by WJ, a gathering of the ITS Nationals network and a panel discussion of leading industry speakers. The stand also featured ITS UK and Transport for West Midlands, which continued to ramp up interest and enthusiasm for the UK’s hosting of the ITS World Congress at Birmingham’s NEC in October 2027.
“The TTF, LCRIG and ITS UK did a fantastic job of organising networking opportunities on the UK Pavillion, such as the ITS Nationals and afternoon tea with UK Government officials and DBT Spain attracting delegates onto the stand, and both AGD and MAV have made valuable contacts to follow up with,” commented Neil Keith, Commercial Manager at AGD Systems, while his MAV Colleague Helen Garrett, their International Business Development Manager added: “being a part of the TTF Stand definitely raised our profile at the event, and I felt we received more visitors as such.”
“This has been our first ITS congress, and we can certainly say that we’ll be coming back for more,” said Steve Ferris, Marketing Manager at Agilysis. “It’s been great to meet and understand other potential European partners, discovering possible opportunities for British businesses like ours.”
Another ITS European Congress UK Pavilion debutant, Christian Rouffaert, CEO of Teragence, called the event: “A unique opportunity to connect with these stakeholders,” explaining that: “We were able to connect to a wide range of European stakeholders in the road and mobility space who are looking for granular, independent and quantitative data about mobile network coverage, be it to support digital roads, autonomous vehicles or EV charging.”
“As a very small group of passionate individuals, VESOS could never ordinarily afford to exhibit at such a high-profile event, but the existence of the UK Pavilion made it possible,” said VESOS Solutions Director Danny Woolard. “We had some great conversations about eCall and how it fits into the wider road safety technology solutions in Europe.”
“The events organised at the UK Pavilion gave us the opportunity to engage with a broader audience and connect with relevant organisations,” added Vittoria Paris, Head of Product at Immense. “As always, being part of it has proven to be a fantastic opportunity for Immense.
We look forward to the ITS EC in Istanbul next year and to further representing the vibrant UK transport sector.”
“As a small to medium enterprise (SME), one of our greatest challenges is raising awareness of what we do and the positive impact we can have within the transport technology sector,” said Stuart Wilson, Head of the ITS Consultancy at Nicander. “With limited resources to dedicate to marketing, networking, and collaborative outreach, the opportunity to exhibit on the UK Pavilion (thanks to the support of TTF, LCRIG, and other partners) was invaluable.”
“The ITS European congress in Seville was a fantastic place to meet new partners both abroad and in the UK,” commented NOW Wireless Project and Sales Manager, Paul Hudson. “The evening events organised by ERTICO and the Nordic States encapsulated traditional themes of Seville and were ideal networking events. Thanks to the LCRIG and TTF team for organising a successful event and to Max and the ITS UK team for the additional networking events. Looking forward to Istanbul next year, and more importantly the World Congress in Birmingham in 2027”
“The Seville conference provided a great opportunity to share innovative developments in ITS and of course to discuss opportunities that provide a tangible difference to road safety, network efficiency and improvements to road users through better connectivity and information services,” said Lee Street, Director and Head of Technology Services at AECOM Transportation, Europe. “The organisation and support from LCRIG, TTF and UK DfT was excellent and the UK stand was certainly a great attraction, offering great value for UK companies.”
The stand was co-ordinated by the Local Council Roads Innovation Group, LCRIG, on behalf of the Transport Technology Forum. Operations Director Kerry Winstanley, who oversaw the delivery said: “I think we have established a winning formula running the UK Pavilion, offering some of our brightest and most innovative companies an affordable way to showcase what they do to thousands of people from across Europe and beyond. Hearing how this has offered potential to boost their future business is really encouraging, alongside demonstrating the vibrancy of the UK ITS industry as a whole.”
The three-day event had more participants than any of the previous 15 European Congressses, with more than 3,000 people and 141 exhibitors, an international summit of mobility leaders and more than 150 sessions with over 500 speakers.
(Picture – TTF)
