VIENNA, Austria, (October 19, 2016)
Dr. Joachim Taiber, Chief Technology Officer of the International Transportation Innovation Center (ITIC) in Greenville, S.C., was a featured speaker at the Eco-Mobility 2016 Conference in Vienna, Austria. Hosted by the Austrian Association for Advanced Propulsion Systems (A3PS), the two-day conference focused on the field of tension between technological feasibility and political trends. Speakers included representatives from OEMs including Porsche and Renault; energy suppliers such as Argonne; IT providers including Samsung; automotive suppliers such as Bosch; and technology policy institutions such as the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications of Chile.
A3PS is a public-private partnership between Austrian companies, R&D institutions and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology promoting the development and market introduction of alternative propulsion systems and energy carriers. It hosts the annual Eco-Mobility Conference in part to establish collaborative solutions for sustainable transportation solutions for Austria.
Dr. Taiber’s presentation addressed the paradigm shift currently underway that is moving the automotive industry from one that is vehicle-centric to one that is infrastructure-centric. Driven by the demand for connected, autonomous and zero-emission vehicles, smart city developments require the collaboration of city planners, architects, transportation, automotive and IT engineers. To ensure all vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) systems are safe and effective, two types of test beds are needed: closed test beds that operate in private and secure environments; and open test beds that operate in portions of public, real-time environments. Dr. Taiber presented examples of both, which ITIC currently has in development in South Carolina, Florida, Munich and Trondheim, Norway.
“Public-private partnerships are the key to tomorrow’s transportation needs,” says Dr. Taiber. “ITIC’s mission is to create these collaborations for the development of safe and efficient smart cities all over the world.”