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Innovation: Charting Pathways to Sustainable Mobility
October 20, 2021 – October 21, 2021 CEST

About the Conference
On 20-21 October, IRF hosted its annual autumn conference online under the theme “Innovation: Charting Pathways to Sustainable Mobility”. While the whole conference was in English, Chinese-English simultaneous interpreting was also available.
With fast-growing populations leading to significant urbanisation, the demand for new transport infrastructure is predicted to see massive growth in coming decades. The new challenges: the increasing expectations of businesses, service users, and the public and the need to reduce carbon emissions and waste.
For the road sector, this means finding innovative ways to fulfil the need of building new roads, maintaining, upgrading, and operating the existing road network, while aligning these actions with the provisions of the Paris Agreement – targeting lower greenhouse gases – and those of the SDGs looking for an equitable, safe and sustainable mobility for all.
Our collective task: create a truly safe, sustainable, and efficient multi-modal transportation system. For this to happen, we need to learn to think and do things differently.
The arrival of new digital technologies is enabling efficiency improvements in existing transport systems, as well as making them more user-friendly and sustainable. Integration across transport networks and modes is driven by the growing ability to make real-time system data and information available to operators and users.
None of the extraordinary mobility changes we are witnessing would be possible without proper infrastructure. Yet transforming mobility requires more than just technology and infrastructure. Transforming mobility requires innovation on all fronts: in the way we think, we plan, we design, and we deliver and manage transport systems.
Recordings of the Full Event
Day 1 – 20th October 2021
Day 2 – 21st October 2021
Opening Session
Session 1: Investing in Road Safety
IRF Innovation Updates
Session 2: Unleashing the Potential of Digitalisation in the Road Sector
Session 3: Embedding Sustainability in Infrastructure Projects
IRF Start-up Label Finalists – Pitching Session
Session 4: Embracing the New Trends in Road Transport
Closing Ceremony & Special Announcement
Programme & Speakers’ Material
Click on the speaker’s name to access the presentation.
Day 1 – 20th October 2021
9:00
Welcome Speech
Susanna Zammataro – Director General, IRF
9:05 – 09:30
Opening Session
- Bill M. Halkias – President, International Road Federation
- Massimo Schintu – President, ASECAP
- Neil Pedersen – Executive Director, Transportation Research Board (TRB)
- Angelos Amditis – President, ERTICO
- Liu Wenjie – Secretary General CHTS & BRITA
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Nancy Vandycke – Manager, SuM4All Programme, World Bank Group
9:30 – 10:30
Session 1: Investing in Road Safety
Moderator: Susanna Zammataro – Director General, International Road Federation
- Binyam Reja – Acting Global Director of Transport, World Bank
- Promoting Clarity to Facilitate Sustainable Investment
Malaya Zumel – Regional Transport Coordinator, European Investment Bank (EIB) - Nneka Henry – Head, United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF)
- Applying an Impact Lens to Investing in Road Safety
Jane Newman – International Director, Social Finance - Innovation for a Safer Roadway Infrastructure
Dan Chen – President, 3M Transportation Safety Division - Driving Culture. Embedding Road Safety in the Private Sector
Elizabeth Waller – Road Safety Manager, Transurban
10:30 – 11:00
IRF Innovation Updates
Moderator: Dimitris Mandalozis – Chief Operations Officer, Aegean Motorway S.A
- Enhancing the Resilience of Transport Infrastructure to Climate Change
Ecogest – Valerio Molinari, Company’s Majority Shareholder - Improving Post-Crash Response
Eastern Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Transport (EASST) – Emma MacLennan, Director - Optimisation–based Traffic Management Model for Signalised Intersections
Turkish Road Association – Ziya ÇAKICI, Professor Assistat at Izmir Democracy University
11:00 – 12:25
Session 2: Unleashing the Potential of Digitalisation in the Road Sector
Moderator: Angelos Bekiaris – Director, CERTH
- Infrastructure Digitalisation and Mobility Future
Dr. Clarissa Han – National Leader Sustainability & Resilience, Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) - Boosting the Automation of Infrastructure Maintenance: the OMICRON Project
Federico Di Gennaro – Head of Strategic Projects, AISCAT Servizi - AI for Automated Regular Road Inspections
Estibaliz Barañano – General manager, ASIMOB - AiRAP: Using Big Data for Road Safety
Monica Olyslagers – Global Innovation Manager, AiRAP - Critical Issues in Researching Sustainable Mobility ADAS and Infrastructure Synergy
Rik Nuyttens – Senior Manager Regulatory Affairs EMEA Region, 3M Transportation Safety Division - From Silos to Digital Smart Mobility
Nikolaus Stieldorf – Global Business Development Manager, SWARCO
12:25 – 12:30
Closing Day 1
Bill Halkias – President, IRF
Day 2, 21st October 2021
09:25 – 09:30
Recap Day 1
Moderator: Susanna Zammataro – Director General, International Road Federation
09:30 – 10:30
Session 3: Embedding Sustainability in Infrastructure Projects
Moderator: Maruxa Cardama – Secretary General, Slocat
Keynote Speaker: James Leather – Chief of Transport Sector Group, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
ADB Emerging Areas of Support
- Sustainable Roads, Re-imagining our Network
Mike Evans – Global Highways Lead, ARUP - Charting the Pathway to the ASECAP Sustainability Report
Emanuela Stocchi – Director of International Affairs, AISCAT – Chair RS and Sustainability, ASECAP - Smart Motorways Require Long-term Innovation Investments
Konstantinos Koutsoukos – President, Hellastron - Tools for Evaluating and Measuring Sustainability in the Roads Sector
Liesbeth Casier, Senior Policy Advisor & Laura Turley, Associate – International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
10:30 – 11:00
IRF Start-up Label Finalists – Pitching Session
Moderator: Gonzalo Alcaraz – Senior Manager Membership & Innovation, International Road Federation
11:00 – 12:25
Session 4: Embracing the New Trends in Road Transport
Moderator: Anthony Marshall, 2MPy Advisor
- Shaping the New Smart and Sustainable Mobility of Tomorrow
Angelos Amditis – President, ERTICO - Applying Technology for Road Safety in Korea
Seong-ik Oh – Director, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Korea) - The Next Generation of Road User Charging
Caroline Traynor, Associate – ARUP & Geraldine Walsh, Head of Road User Charging – Transport Infrastructure Ireland - New Technologies and Solutions Improving Urban Mobility Management
Martí Jofre – Managing Partner, FACTUAL - Climate Resilient Sustainable Road Pavement Surfacings
Dr. Gurmel S. Ghataora, Senior Lecturer & Abeba Demessie, PhD Student, Research Coordinator – CRISPS Project, University of Birmingham - Digital Transport for Africa
Iman Abubaker – Urban Mobility Project Coordinator, WRI Africa
12:25 – 12:30
Closing
Special Announcement by IRF President, Bill Halkias
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