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Plastic card printer MGI Digital Graphic Technology has acquired Ceradrop, a high-tech inkjet printing component designer and manufacturer serving the printed electronics industry, in a move that positions MGI to enter emerging, high-growth markets for printed electronics. Limoges-based Ceradrop, founded in 2006, was originally a spin-off from the world-renowned CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) laboratory, a leader in the French market for inkjet equipment for printed electronics as wel

Changes to the retail world over the next ten years could be even more important than those during the internet revolution of the 2000s – so how will payments and cards fare in this new environment? Answers will be found at one of the big attractions at CARTES 2013 – the Smart Shopping area. This zone, designed in partnership with independent consultant ADN’co, brings together the most significant innovations in the payment and retail industries, displayed as customer journeys renewed by new technologie

One of the highlights of CARTES 2013 will be the World Card Summit, the prestigious opening conference on the first morning of the show, which promises to set the tone for the whole three days. Key players in the security industry will come together to share their views on what the state of play is at present – and put forward ideas of the technologies and solutions we will all be looking at in the future.

The EU co-funded AutoNet2030 research project begins in November 2013, and will run through to October 2016. The aim of the project is to enable the introduction of more fail-safe, cost effective automated driving technologies to make road traffic safer and more convenient. Deployment is expected to be in 2020-2030, when cooperative wireless communications will already have been available in the majority of vehicles.

Russian company Permdorstroy has won a tender for the reconstruction of the 8.4 kilometre road section from the Mulyanka river to Bolshoye Savino Airport, in a contract worth US$53.43 million. The project provides for construction of a multi-lane road, eight elevated pedestrian crossings at bus stops and lighting installation. The project is due to be completed by October 2015.

The Colorado Transportation Commission has approved US$10 million to retrofit a fixed fire suppression system in the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels (EJMT) because there is no way for fire-fighters to safely and effectively respond to a fire. Located around 60 miles west of Denver, at an elevation of more than 11,000 feet, the EJMT is the highest vehicular tunnel in the world and carries an average of approximately 30,000 vehicles per day, or over ten million vehicles per year. Once the fire suppr

Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre has been selected to test and develop an advanced wireless network for PSA Singapore Terminals (PSA), the world’s largest trans-shipment hub. The network will strengthen PSA’s management of innovative unmanned systems, including automated guided vehicles (AGV), which are currently being developed.

According to Inrix, its latest Inrix XD Traffic service covers 6.4 million kilometres of road in 37 countries and provides twice the amount of road coverage than has previously been available to automakers, transportation agencies, fleets and media worldwide. Inrix XD Traffic delivers insight into what’s happening on the road independent of the country or map provider, with features such as: detailed traffic speeds for every mile down to 250 metre increments; map independence; sophisticated analysis of

Singapore and China have teamed up on the development of smart cities opening up new opportunities for local enterprises. Singapore and China have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a new smart city twinning initiative that also opens several opportunities for communications industries to collaborate in various sectors including intelligent transport, smart education and smart environment management.

Construction has begun on two-kilometre bridge spanning the Tien River in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. The investment of US$145 million is funded by non-refundable aid from the Australian government, a loan from the Asia Development Bank and Vietnamese government capital. The cable-stayed Cao Lanh Bridge, which links Cao Lanh Town and Lap Vo District in Dong Thap Province, will have four lanes for motorised vehicles to run at a speed of 80 kilometres per hour and two other lanes for non-motoris

High-speed video cameras for ITS applications developed by Sony Image Sensing Solutions have been adopted by system integrator Horus to create a pothole identification system capable of detecting potholes at speeds of up to 130 kph (80 mph). The vision-based pothole detection system integrates six high-speed Sony ITS camera modules, each taking 15 high-resolution frames per second to form a 360-degree imaging system which accurately records data from up to three lanes simultaneously, even when travelling

UK outsourcing company Capita is to acquire ParkingEye, a provider of technology based car parking services, for an enterprise value of U$93 million on a cash free debt free basis. ParkingEye's automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) based management system is used by clients to provide remote enforcement, management information and alerting systems. The technology, which is adaptable across market sectors, is designed to ensure that car parks are used by individuals with a legitimate right to use them

Scottish service provider BEAR Scotland and Vaisala have been awarded the Highways magazine Excellence Award for Highways Industry Product of the Year for the DSP310 Condition Patrol system, an innovative solution to obtain comprehensive, real-time road condition weather data from a mobile automated weather station. Vaisala's DSP310 condition patrol solution uses sensors mounted in a vehicle to provide real-time monitoring of all road weather conditions. The in-cab display uses a smartphone running the V

The UK government has approved funds to tackle congestion in two of the UK’s major cities, Birmingham and Leeds. Work needed to tackle congestion on the regionally strategic A452 road in Birmingham can now start after receiving final approval from Transport Minister Baroness Kramer. The road carries heavy traffic, creating poor access and a lack of reliable journey times for road users. The US$13 million improvements will improve the network, improve bus journey times and improve pedestrian and cyclist

Public transport users in the Spanish province of Bizkaia are set to benefit from the Barik card, which allows the integration of multiple modes of transport, enabling passengers to use the card on underground, tram, train, bus, cable car, public lift and cycle. Thales is to provide the Biskay Transport Consortium with maintenance for the intermodal payment system, including the central management system software, equipment and point of sale software, and customisation of the cards used by the Transport

Representatives of major US high-speed rail projects are to meet with their European counterparts to seek the expertise and knowledge of the leading European high-speed rail companies. The US is planning to invest approximately US$150,000 million over the next ten years in the development of high-speed rail networks, representing a great opportunity for European infrastructure and engineering companies. For the first time, American senior official representatives of these projects will meet in Europe loo

The European Commission (EU) is expected to invest around US$276 million to create smart cities in the next two years. The High Level Group of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) for Smart Cities and Communities has agreed the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) which will serve as the basis for speeding up the deployment of Smart City solutions in Europe. The SIP is drafted by and based on a thorough consultation of representatives from industry, cities, civil society and research including UITP.

Q-Free is to acquire Serbian traffic management company Elcom in a deal worth US$1.8 million. Q-Free has signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) for the acquisition which it says reflects the company’s efforts to strengthen its business area within advanced transportation management systems (ATMS) and follows a US$1 million investment in ten percent ownership of US traffic management company Intelight. Established in 1994, Elcom offers traffic controllers, LED street lights and traffic control system sol

Sensys Traffic, Sweden has received an order from Sensys America worth around US$600,000 for speed and red-light enforcement systems to be installed in Washington DC. This is the third order from the three-year framework agreement for speed and red light enforcement systems signed by Sensys America in October 2012. "Washington DC is continuing its investment in greater traffic safety, where traffic cameras are an excellent tool. The United States has become Sensys Traffic's largest market in 2013, an

According to a new RFID sector survey by IDTechEx Research, RFID Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2014-2024, the RFID market will increase from US$6.98 billion in 2012 to US$7.88 billion, and will reach US$23.4 billion in 2020. This includes tags, readers and software/services for RFID cards, labels, fobs and all other form factors - for both passive and active RFID. Using new, unique information researched globally by IDTechEx technical experts, the new report RFID Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2