As 2023 draws to a close, the TN-ITS community reflects on a year of accomplishments, collaboration, and growth. The platform has marked its 10th anniversary with a series of achievements that underscore its commitment to enhancing road safety and efficiency and data services.
TN-ITS members convened for the final meeting of the year on 14 December, reflecting on the strides made throughout the year. A pivotal aspect of this gathering was the roadmap update, focusing on expanding data coverage, introducing new applications, and enhancing data services. The community showcased its commitment to enlarging its community, with new partners and cities implementing TN-ITS services to be announced early next year.
Throughout 2023, TN-ITS hosted four Quarterly Partner Meetings, providing a space to bring clarity to its mission, foster collaboration among members, and engage with external stakeholders, including public authorities and private entities. The insights gained from these meetings, covering topics such as standardization, TN-ITS in the urban realm, and the need for map innovations, played a crucial role in redefining the TN-ITS roadmap.
An essential focus for TN-ITS is dissemination, ensuring its work reaches a global audience. Participation in prominent events like the ITS European Congress, ASECAP Days, ISFO Conference, ITS.Be Congress, and NAPCORE Mobility Data Days bolstered the platform’s visibility. TN-ITS also organized workshops and webinars, collaborating with other projects, platforms, and initiatives to further its impact in areas such as RTTI Delegated Regulation, standard harmonization, and the role of TN-ITS in European data spaces.
One of the significant achievements of the year was the TN-ITS – DATEX II merger, recognized as a key milestone within NAPCORE, further solidifying TN-ITS’s position as a driving force in the intelligent transport systems landscape.
Celebrating Excellence: TN-ITS Awards
This year, TN-ITS celebrated its 10th anniversary by honouring outstanding contributors with the TN-ITS awards. Christian Kleine, re-elected as TN-ITS president, announced the awardees. Bard de Vries, TN-ITS new partner 2023; Trond Hovland, TN-ITS pioneer; and Loïck Blaive, TN-TS ambassador.
Trond Hovland, ITS Norway, received the TN-ITS Pioneer 2023 award, which recognises his trajectory and outstanding contributions to the platform in its early stages, particularly regarding the ROSATTE project: “It’s a 10th anniversary, but for me, it’s my life. In 1993 I was working with data for crashing analysis at the Norwegian public roads administrations and I realised at one instant that the quality and availability of this data can save lives. It’s really for me that you have succeeded in this stand. I see a lot of companies and stakeholders are pointing at TN-ITS. This award is truly heartwarming and touching for me”.
Bard de Vries was awarded as TN-ITS partner 2023, for his cooperative efforts in facilitating the merging with the DATEX II standard: “The world has changed this year. We took off and identified a good reason for collaborating in merging the topics that we overlap. We’ve come much further than I expected, and I really thank the TN-ITS community for being so open to bringing these worlds together in terms of standardisation. There is a prosperous future glamming on the horizon”.
Loïck Blaive was granted the TN-ITS ambassador award: “We restarted working in CEN, and I’m happy that we succeeded in publishing CEN specification in a very short time. Since then, I have been advocating this specification in CEN, of course, but also in ISO. In dealing with map specification, it’s important to have something more consistent. We need to have this cooperation. The main word I would like to share with you is cooperation”.
Looking Ahead: A Future of Collaboration and Progress
As TN-ITS reflects on a successful year, the community looks forward to the years to come with determination. The achievements of 2023, and the past decade, have set the stage for further advancements, and the TN-ITS community is poised to continue its journey towards safer, more efficient intelligent transport systems. With a commitment to collaboration and progress, TN-ITS is set to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of smart and connected mobility.