Dubai beats Birmingham to host ITS World Congress 2024 – the first time the European leg of the three-region event is held outside of the continent itself.

ERTICO – ITS Europe has confirmed that the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority has been chosen as the preferred host of event, beating Birmingham and Zurich in the selection competition.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) will host the World Congress of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS World Congress) 2024. It will be the first time this signature event will have been held in the region since it launched in 1994.

RTA was nominated to host the event by ITS Europe. The Congress is supported also by ITS America and ITS Asia-Pacific.

His Excellency Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, director-general and RTA chairman, said he was delighted his organisation would be hosting the 30th edition of ITS World Congress, the first time it would be held outside of Europe, North America, Australia and East Asia.

“Hosting the ITS World Congress 2024 in Dubai underscores the rising global standing of the Emirate in the field of ITS, the confidence of such reputed entities in the role of Dubai, and the ability of the city to stage successful global events. The Congress is widely regarded as the top global gathering of ITS and digital solutions of traffic, roads and transportation,” said Al Tayer.

The hosting of the Congress comes in light of the massive steps made by Dubai in advancing ITS, as witnessed by the portfolio of smart projects undertaken by RTA in anticipation of the future such as intelligent transport centres, and self-driving transport, as well as the enablers of the 4th Industrial Revolution such as the IoT, AI applications, machine learning, big data, robotics, and mobility power solutions.

«RTA is keen to keep abreast of the Government’s future directions of transforming Dubai into a smart, innovative and sustainable city that uses cutting-edge telecommunication and digital technologies. In this regard, RTA is proceeding ahead with the Dubai Smart Self-Driving Transport strategy is aimed at converting 25% of total mobility journeys in Dubai to smart self-driving journeys by 2030,” – Al Tayer said.

RTA has started the trial run of an autonomous electric 10-seater vehicle, and the first air taxi capable of carrying two persons. The RTA has also reported making a pilot operation of the first autonomous taxi in the region and has held the first edition of Dubai World Congress and Challenge for Self-Driving Transport.

RTA also recently inaugurated the Dubai Intelligent Traffic Systems Centre, one of the biggest and most sophisticated traffic control centres worldwide. The centre will expand the intelligent traffic systems coverage of the city’s main roads from the current 11% to 60%. It is expected to cut the time of monitoring incidents, predicting congestions, and delivering quick responses.

The 2024 event will be held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre which has hosted the Gulf Traffic event for many years.