Intertraffic Amsterdam reconfirmed its position as the world’s leading trade event for infrastructure, traffic management, smart mobility, safety and parking. The 2018 edition concluded last Friday with a collective high five. The diversity of exhibitors, knowledge sessions from world-leading experts, ground-breaking innovations and record numbers through the doors were the ingredients for a success formula that once again surpassed expectations of all stakeholders involved. Intertraffic Amsterdam is organised by RAI Amsterdam and took place from 20 to 23 March 2018.
Efforts paid off
Joyce de Winter, Exhibition Manager Intertraffic of RAI Amsterdam is overjoyed with the results of Intertraffic Amsterdam 2018. “We worked very closely with the sector to bring both our show floor and our content programme to the next level. We got the automotive and data industries actively involved plus offered a playing field to innovative newcomers with our dedicated ITSUP startup event. We also added newness to Intertraffic with the introduction of our Intertraffic Community Hub, an extra hall for smart mobility and circular show routing. This year, the show featured no less than three on-floor theatres. Our close cooperation with authoritative experts resulted in a well-received mix of themes and topics. The Intertraffic content programme clearly met the demand for knowledge exchange and learning opportunities. All the efforts have paid off, even beyond our own expectations. The feedback that has come back from the show floor from both visitors and exhibitors was a solid confirmation that we are serving the industry what it needs and are offering an augmented experience to all stakeholders involved. What makes the Intertraffic Amsterdam concept stand out, apart from being a true B2B and B2G platform with a global reach, is the fact that the knowledge programme is fully complimentary and visitors can simply pick and mix the sessions of their preference.”
New records
This edition of Intertraffic turned out iconic. Close to 900 companies from 49 countries exhibited, and over the four event days a record grand total of 32,317 visitors from 138 countries worldwide were counted. For the content programme, nearly 8,000 check ins were made for 79 sessions in total. The international share of attendees is 75% with non-European origin showing significant growth. Overall the attendance figure has gone up by 7.5%. The exhibitor rebookings for 2020 clearly underline the significant ROI, as already 70% of space was claimed on the spot for the next Amsterdam show. And 2020 promises to be a special one, as it will be Intertraffic Amsterdam’s 25th anniversary edition. A full event profile report will be published in May.
ITSUP is here to stay
The ITSUP startup event during Intertraffic Amsterdam 2018 saw 46 global startups demonstrate their solutions, motivations and drive. Moreover, the ITSUP Arena challenges made the most of the ingenuity and motivation on show. Over three days and across three contemporary challenges, fifteen solutions were proposed and six collaborations emerged, a resounding success. Challenger HR Groep agreed on collaborations to improve urban experiences and infrastructure with respectively French startup Qucit and Savari of Santa Clara, California. Challengers SWOV and Sensys Gatso created a coalition with Dutch startup SD Insights and the Canadian company Keeping Roads Safe to combine technology and experience in order to create new ways of identifying and enforcing unsafe driving behaviours. Challenger RAI Amsterdam agreed an exciting collaboration with Dutch startups 2DOK and Intellifi. The former using its carbon neutral network of transportation providers to take advantage of the Amsterdam waterways in order to alleviate the burdens created by RAI’s logistical demands, with the latter using IOT technology to make this a smart and well monitored process. The ITSUP startup event was first introduced under the wings of Intertraffic Amsterdam 2018 but will be integrated in more Intertraffic events across the globe.
Intertraffic Innovation Award 2018
The Intertraffic Innovation Award 2018 overall winner – and category winner for Smart Mobility - was the ParkNow Group, formerly known as the Parkmobile Group, with its ParkNow in-dash parking payments in partnership with BMW’s On-Street Parking Information (OSPI) system. The jury was particularly impressed with the level of system integration into the dashboard of the vehicle, doing away with the need for running separate smartphone apps – a point that was judged not only to improve efficiency and convenience but also, importantly, safety. Jury member Ben Rutten of Eindhoven University of Technology, commented, “This innovation will result in a hassle-free last mile, as well as reducing distances driven, resulting in cleaner cities and less congested roads.” Marc de Vries, CEO of ParkNow Group, says, “We are always pushing the parking agenda forward with innovative new developments for our service and, in tandem with our shareholder BMW, it’s a wonderful achievement to be recognised as Overall Innovation Award winner at this most prestigious traffic technology exhibition. It’s great to have won two awards at consecutive Intertraffic events, but being judged as the single best overall submission this year is the icing on the cake.” An overview of all category winners is published on the Intertraffic website.
