Enabling the smart city of the future

 

 

Technology and innovation continue to be at the heart as an enabler for our future smart city environment and the impact over the last 10 years has already been seismic.

This is a complicated and highly fragmented market, which is seeking to bring together new disruptive solutions delivering autonomous & connected vehicles through to big data intelligence for the benefit of integrated citizen mobility.

However, this is also against a political and practical backdrop of seeking to reduce, pollution, solving the ever-increasing chronic congestion on our roads, the increasing strain on our whole transport infrastructure and continuing to encourage modal shift from the car to public transport.

With the advancement of technology, the expectation of the general public has also shifted significantly. The demand for timely and accurate information to inform journey plans and the capability for seamless mobility across all modes of transport is growing at a rapid pace.

Industry and political leaders and WTA Partners will provide insight into how the market is moving to address the challenges that lay ahead.

This is a free to attend conference for senior executives, business owners and stakeholders helping to shape the next generation of smart city solutions.

Speakers:

• Lilian Greenwood MP, Chair Transport Select Committee, former Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
• Rob Wallis, CEO, TRL
• Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist, Google
• James Harris, CEO, Elgin

 

Lilian Greenwood MP

Lilian Greenwood was elected as MP for Nottingham South in 2010, and was appointed to the Transport Select Committee in the same year. In 2011 Lilian became Shadow Local Transport Minister, before moving on to the role of Shadow Rail Minister in January 2013. Lilian was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet in September 2015, becoming Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, and retained the Transport brief until her resignation in June 2016. During this time Lilian campaigned successfully for the widening of the A453 and extensions to Nottingham’s tram network, and has been a strong advocate for electrification of the Midland Main Line. Since July 2017 Lilian has been Chair of the Transport Select Committee where she remains committed to ensuring that the needs of all transport users are addressed, particularly those whose voices are least heard by decision-makers.

 

Rob Wallis, CEO, TRL

Rob Wallis is CEO of TRL Ltd (TRL), the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory, and also CEO of its parent company, the Transport Research Foundation. Rob was appointed in 2013.

At TRL, Rob is leading a multi-year transformation that builds on the world-renowned 85-year heritage of the company’s success in delivering innovation within the surface transport sector. The changes include strategic investments into future transport and mobility solutions that benefit society.

Rob has 38 years of experience leading consulting, technology and business services organisations, engaging and trading internationally across public and private sectors. Throughout his career, Rob has focused on delivering value through innovation, transformational change and regulatory market access to clients within transport, automotive, new mobility and technology sectors.

Before joining TRL in 2013, Rob was managing director at the British Standards Institution (BSI), leading their Europe, Middle East & Africa regional business. Prior to BSI, he held managing director and senior director roles leading transport and automotive-focused businesses within global technology firms of Electronic Data Systems Inc. (EDS), Logica Plc and CMG Plc, having begun his career at the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Rob is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (FIoD), a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (FCIHT) and a qualified Systems & Software Engineer (SSE).

 

Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist, Google

Ed is based in Google’s London office, and anywhere else he can plug in his laptop.

Ed was the first Chief Technology Officer in the 200-year-old history of Ordnance Survey, and was instrumental in moving the focus of the organisation from mapping to Geographical Information. He came to the Ordnance Survey from Autodesk, where he was EMEA Applications Manager for the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Division.

He earned a Masters degree in Applied Remote Sensing from Cranfield Institute of Technology, holds a Honorary Doctorate in Science from Kingston University, London.  and is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, an Associate Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and a professional member of the British Computer Society.

Ed is married with two children and lives in South West London.

He is a lapsed aviator having learnt to fly before succumbing to the English weather and the price of avgas,  he now just takes photographs of aircraft, examples of which can be found at photos.edparsons.com.

 

James Harris, CEO, Elgin

James is founder and CEO of Elgin and roadworks.org, the UK’s national information hub for roadworks and traffic disruptions. He is a technologist and entrepreneur with a passion for solving complex problems with simple and novel technology. Frustrated by the lack of reliable information about road closures on sat-navs, James set about addressing that gap in 2012 with a solution that is now used by cities to send live updates to Google Maps.

Elgin’s platform has since evolved into an advanced traffic management smart city solution which is transforming the way disruptions are planned and communicated to road users via web, sat-nav and smart mobility channels.