T3 Webinar Overview

Automation in Europe: Update on Activities in the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom

Date:   Monday, June 27, 2015
Time:  11:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET
Cost:  All T3 webinars are free of charge
PDH:  1.5   View PDH Policy

T3 Webinars are brought to you by the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program of the U.S. Department of Transportation's (U.S. DOT) ITS Joint Program Office (JPO). References in this webinar to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. DOT.

Background

The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) is hosting a series of webinars on the key issues and opportunities facing the integration of automated vehicles into our transportation system. Automation in Europe: Update on Activities in the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom is the fourth in this series of webinars produced from the 2015 Automated Vehicles Symposium. Unlike previous installations of this series, this 90-minute webinar will explore Europe's automated vehicle initiatives in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (UK), and Sweden.

Agenda

Carlos Alban and Eli Machek will provide an overview of the U.S. DOT vehicle automation initiatives and ITS America's involvement.

Tom Alkim will discuss how having the presidency of the European Union (EU) this year, created momentum in the Netherlands for connected and automated driving.

Iain Forbes will discuss how the automotive industry will see more change in the next decade than in the previous fifty years. His presentation will give an overview of how the UK government is approaching this shift.

Jan Hellåker will discuss Drive Sweden, a national effort towards an automated transportation system.

Learning Objectives

Attendees of the webinar will expect to learn about vehicle automation in Europe.

Target Audience

Anyone interested in climate change, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Transportation System Management and Operations (TSM&O); Bridge Engineers, City Planners, Emergency and Public Safety Managers, and academic and research staff.

Hosts

Carlos Alban, Technical Programs Specialist, Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), Washington, D.C., USA

Carlos Alban joined ITS America in February 2012 as a Transportation Program Specialist. In his role, Carlos is primarily responsible for leading stakeholder outreach and engagement on the research the U.S. DOT is currently conducting through the ITS-JPO. This includes planning, organizing, and conducting several public workshops and webinars which inform ITS stakeholders and other interested parties on current ITS research, and more specifically on the Connected Vehicle Program. In addition, Carlos is ITS America's Project Manager for the U.S. DOT's ITS PCB Program. Working closely with ITS America's State Chapters, ITS America, and the U.S. DOT partner in offering training courses held in conjunction with ITS America state chapter annual meetings or similar events. This program offers local public sector professionals the opportunity to receive training and information about the US DOT's latest activities as well as critical issues in the ITS industry. Carlos also serves as the liaison for ITS America's Sustainable Transportation Forum, and is the Technical Programs liaison to the State Chapter Council.

Eli Machek, Community Planner, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Cambridge, MA, USA

Elizabeth (Eli) Machek is a Community Planner in the Technology Innovation and Policy Division of the U.S. DOT Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology. Eli joined the Volpe Center in 2003 and has experience in transportation planning and policy analysis, with applications in areas including alternative transportation, parking management, accessibility, and intelligent transportation systems. Currently, she manages international ITS research coordination activities and research projects in transit automation and automated first-last mile transportation. She also supports the ITS JPO Automation Program and the FHWA Exploratory Advanced Research Program. Ms. Machek holds a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Presenters

Tom Alkim, Netherlands -Senior Advisor C-ITS and Automated Driving, Rijkswaterstaat, Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Netherlands

With more than 15 years of experience in the field of ITS, Tom Alkim has been a constant factor for Rijkswaterstaat in exploring the opportunities to improve their primary processes in general and active traffic management in particular by looking for innovative solutions.

Representing Rijkswaterstaat as a pro-active road operator striving to be a front runner in Europe regarding C-ITS and Automated Driving, his focus is on cooperation with industry, knowledge institutes and public organizations on a national as well as on an international level. He has been active in several national field operational tests, European projects, was a co-organizer of the Cooperative Mobility Showcase 2010 and is one of the founding fathers of DITCM (Dutch Integrated Testsite Cooperative Mobility). Currently he is part of the governmental team responsible for Automated Driving in The Netherlands, his main task here is the knowledge agenda (http://knowledgeagenda.connekt.nl/engels). During the Dutch Presidency of the EU in 2016, the team was responsible for organizing the Declaration of Amsterdam, the Experience and the EU Truck Platooning Challenge.

Iain Forbes, UK - Head of the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles - Department for Transport, UK

Iain Forbes is the head of the UK Government's Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, a new policy unit based jointly in the Department for Transport and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. The Centre aims to help ensure that the UK remains a world leader in developing and testing connected and autonomous vehicles.

Prior to joining CCAV Iain worked in No10 as a Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, covering issues including transport and the devolved administrations. He has previously worked in both the Department for Transport and the Home Office, advising on innovation, science and technology, security policy and environmental strategy.

Jan Hellåker, Sweden - Program Director, Drive Sweden, Sweden

Jan Hellåker leads the Drive Sweden program, which was recently launched by the Swedish government to coordinate and boost efforts in vehicle automation, focusing on the system/society level.

Prior to joining Lindholmen Science Park which is the host organization for Drive Sweden, Jan spent 25+ years in advanced vehicle research in the field of ITS and telematics within the Volvo Group, most recently as the VP of Transport Solutions & Services. He was also the founder and first CEO of WirelessCar, a leading telematics service provider.

Jan started his career with Ericsson, and earned his M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology.