Speeches: Jean Sauvaire, Business Development Department Director, IVECO S.p.A., Italy

7th IRU East-West Road Transport Conference Budapest, 15-16 May 2003 Budapest Congress Centre (BCC), Alkotas u. 63-67 - 1123 Budapest, Hungary

'Intelligent transport systems: a future reality'

Jean Sauvaire
Business Development Department Director, IVECO S.p.A., Italy

We have heard of the marvels of I.T.S for many years now, but the diffusion of this technology is actually still very limited.There are constant rumors about being on the edge of a breakthrough, but my personal feeling is that this breakthrough has been announced for too long and has not been achieved yet.

Despite these considerations, however, some relevant changes have been recently recorded in our sector: in Germany -just to mention one - despite the criticism this decision arose within the transport sector, a new road tolling system based on the GPS/GSM technologies will come into function in August 2003; but let me get back to this in a while, since this is a quite controversial issue.I believe there are 2 fundamental questions which we should answer to address the I.T.S. issue correctly:

• How can we facilitate the diffusion process of these technologies?
• Who is going to pay for the costs these systems will bring about? That is to say: have we calculated the balance between costs and benefits?

Both questions shall be answered by a plurality of stakeholders:

• Of course, the Transport Operators, who are involved in the first place, and then:
• Equipment Suppliers
• Infrastructure Administrators
• System & Software Providers
• Authorities and Institutions providing rules and regulations
• Last but not least, Vehicles Manufacturers

It would be too complicated to discuss the implications for each of the a.m. actors and this is not the right place to investigate this, but I would like to express IVECO's viewpoint about how to make these technologies successful and help their diffusion.It is essential that these technologies meet certain basic requirements: the first regards the availability of standards, which, for example, make it possible to use I.T.S. in transport even after crossing national borders.

The second is that I.T.S. in transport must be able to develop, entrusting I.T.S. efficiency to the forces of the free market.

The German example I mentioned before is a worrying one, because it goes just the opposite direction: on the contrary, we would like this kind of system to be supplied on the market by a number of competing suppliers.

And we would like the installation and maintenance of these systems to be provided likewise by a network of workshops which are guaranteed full access to the necessary technical information.
IVECO is trying to change this trend: together with the other Manufacturers we have started a Task Force within ACEA, our European Association, fully dedicated to the solutions of these problems.

Secondly, the problem of costs: the improvements and advantages that I.T.S. systems offer to transport operators imply indeed new economical burdens, which I am afraid will get even higher if the systems stay as fragmented and uncapable of interfacing as they are now.

To overcome these barriers a scale production and a free competition on the market are necessary: without an economy of scale for I.T.S. systems little can be done to optimise costs.
Finally, the Manufacturers shall think of these systems bearing in mind their integrated use in every logistics supply chain sector, thus re-designing the different operating processes of our many activities.
IVECO fully pursues this goal: our orientation on these issues is more than clear.

• We operate in partnership with the I.T.S. Providers
  
• We realise open solutions for our Customers and it is the Customers who decide the best system configuration for their business
  
• We offer flexible solutions and grant accessibile interfaces towards the vehicle
  
• We qualify solutions which are compatible with our vehicles from a technical viewpoint
  
• We provide expertise with respect to the functionality of our many solutions, depending on our Customers business requirements.

But it is also important that the actions taken by businessmen are backed up by government policies:I will mention three that I consider among the most important.

The first is basic training: human capital is essential if the mechanisms of the new technologies are to function correctly, and it is extremely important to make technologies available to the new generations when they are young or very young.

The second is to create rules conditioning the way transport operations function: for instance, there is no point in having highly sophisticated communications technologies to perform on-line transactions when legislation still imposes very rigid regulations regarding accompanying documentation, or when customs clearance of goods is complex and the opening hours of customs offices are very limited. We must try to simplify bureaucracy and improve efficiency.

The third action regards the organisation of the times and spaces of everyday life, particularly in urban areas: once again, technology alone is not enough to achieve a change for the better, if it is not managed intelligently and accompanied by analysis of related conditions.

Simply said, we have to think of the opportunities linked to a better use of the 'time resource'.Continuous change is a feature of our times and also here we have talked about some important changes that will affect not only our sector, but the whole Society in the coming years.

I am sure that this opportunity for discussion has offered us plenty of information and suggestions: you can be sure that in Iveco you will find a willing, reliable partner with whom progress further.

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