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Congress bangs drum for inclusion

The Opening Ceremony of ITS World Congress 2022 began in spectacular, noisy, bucket-drumming fashion with a performance which rocked a packed crowd. A hush then fell around the Plenary Stage for a touching ‘moment of silence’ for the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II, whose funeral took place on Monday.
September 20, 2022
The Opening Ceremony of ITS World Congress 2022
The Opening Ceremony of ITS World Congress 2022

Laura Chace, president and CEO of ITS America, followed that with a plea for the intelligent transportation community to think hard about how their products and services were used in the real world. The Congress theme of ‘Transformation by Transportation’ points to the idea that technology itself is not the focus. “It’s about what these solutions can deliver for people,” she said.

But in order to create greener, safer transportation services, there was a need to take account of all sorts of voices – not just those of the ITS sector. “Are we listening, are we making changes to how we implement?” she asked. “Who is missing from this conversation? Who do we need to bring into this work?”

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti took to the stage to speak about LA’s stated aim to move away from car-dependency, and to ‘reimagine’ urban mobility. “We are trying to put the ‘human’ back into transportation,” he said. “Let’s make sure transportation isn’t just an idea, but something that implements a better world for all of us.”

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