US and EU sign ITS cooperation agreement

The move brings a step closer the development of ITS products which are truly global in terms of standards and potential application.
Paul Brubaker, Administrator of the USDOTs Research and Innovative Technology Administration and Antii Ilmari Peltomäki, Deputy Director-General of the European Commissions Directorate-General Information Society and Media, exchanged documents which put the seal on formalisation efforts which will be completed by the end of this year.

"Its important that we encourage and ensure interoperability of systems which will be the future of safety, mobility and convenience," said Brubaker. "Many of the USs and EUs efforts are already so closely linked that it would do them a disservice by trying to differentiate them.

"In the same vein I dont think that you can consider efforts to use ITS to improve safety and to improve the environment as competing, as they will both ride the same communications infrastructure.
"I see this signature as the first grand step towards a truly global effort which will involve ITS stakeholders from around the globe," he added, hinting that other, similar agreements might follow in the future.

The agreement also highlights common cause when it comes to efforts to develop cooperative infrastructure systems and improve energy efficiency, noted Peltomäki. "Its important to be as hands-on as possible - we need agreements like these."