The Policy Officer kicks off the 2022 STA Annual Conference by holding a keynote on the role of policy makers and governance bodies to the necessary adaptation of transportation infrastructures to new and innovative forms of mobility. The event and the speech are moderated by Mr. José F. Papí (CEO at Etelätär Innovation & STA President).

Our experts will come together to present their point of view on the needs and requirements of different user groups for future transport infrastructures. This includes a look into automated transport, an increasing share of vulnerable users and up-scaling of urban mobility measures beyond the city centre. The debate is moderated by Mrs. Elena de la Peña (Deputy Director General for Technical Affairs, Spanish Road Association, STA Vice-President & Chair of STA’s Technical Committee on Smart Mobility).

Three researchers & industry experts come together in this forum: Mr. César Bartolomé (Director for Innovation at the Spanish Institute of Cement and its Applications (IECA), Chair of STA’s Technical Committee on Smart Sustainability), Mrs. Friederike L. Kühl (COO at Etelätär Innovation, STA’s Programmes Coordinator) and Mr. Jorge Alfonso Kurano (Project Manager at the Technical University of Madrid).

After learning about the identified needs and requirements of end users, the second roundtable presents a range of tools and innovations developed by the industry and researchers to date to mitigate the transition and adapt transport infrastrucutres to new forms of mobility in the real world. The debate is moderated by Mr Wolf P. Zeplin (STA Vice-President and Chair of STA’s Technical Committee on Smart Safety & Security).

Five researchers & industry experts join a second conversation: Mr. Ricardo Lobo (Head of R&D Department at Aleatica), Mr. Elnert Coenegrachts (PhD Candidate at the Department of Transport and Regional Economics at the University of Antwerp), Mr. Jocelyn Perisse (CTO at Transpolis SAS), Mr. Axel Malczyk (Researcher at the Accident Research Vehicle Safety Section at the German Insurance Association (GDV)) and Mr. Joseph Marra (CBDO at GDTech).

The Person of the Year, Dr. Carlos Azparren, former Team Leader at the Technical Directorate of the Directorate General for Roads, Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) receives the award due to his outstanding contribution to the conceptualisation and introduction of key standard for road safety in Spain and beyond (including the legendary EN1317 standard).

Brebemi S.p.A. receives the Best Innovation Project Award of this year for their innovative Arena del Futuro, which is a test circuit designed for dynamic wireless power transfer and automated vehicles.