The first eight months of 2025 have been remarkable for ERTICO, and looking back on this period, I am proud of what we have accomplished together with our Partners, our Supervisory Board, Strategy Committee and our talented team. Each achievement has reinforced our collective ambition to transform mobility in Europe and beyond.
This year’s focus has remained on delivering tangible value, in-depth expertise and collaboration across the intelligent transport landscape. We have done this by pushing the boundaries of innovation, digging deeper into the very core of digitalisation, from data and connected mobility to new AI-driven solutions. While also addressing equally important themes such as sustainability, resilience, safety and, most prominently, the human-centric aspect, we have remained at the forefront of developments across the rapidly changing mobility ecosystem.
A Milestone for ERTICO’s Future
One of the defining moments of the year was the first edition of our Annual Partnership Forum and 35th General Assembly in June. This milestone marked the future trajectory of our Partnership, and a premiere occasion for ERTICO to launch its new vision and mission and four new strategic areas with enablers and outcomes, for which roadmaps will now follow. We also presented our yearly highlight video, showcasing many of the activities’ achievements since the previous General Assembly in June 2024. Last but not least, we launch our new website with a refined branding, which now reflects the clarity and forward-looking ambition of our organisation.
Download the Vision 2035 Brochure
Digitalisation and AI at the Core
In parallel to this, the ERTICO office continued to support the new Commission and its priorities with expertise and insight into Intelligent Transport Systems. A key example is our contribution to the Automotive Industrial Action Plan, spearheaded by Commissioner Tzitzikostas. The Action Plan places software-defined vehicles, data accessibility, and artificial intelligence at the centre of Europe’s competitiveness, mirroring the very essence of the digitalisation of transport, which lies at the heart of our work.
In a high-level meeting on 'Technology and Digital Innovation', I was honoured to contribute perspectives on how to enhance digitalisation, automation, efficiency, safety, and inclusivity, while aligning with Europe’s broader sustainability goals for mobility. Such discussions demonstrate that impactful change requires continuous dialogue across all sectors.
The Commission presented its Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) proposal for the 2028-2034 period, amounting to nearly €2 trillion, to which became a result mirroring our perspective and recommendations on the dedicated EU funding for Research & Innovation (FP10).
We also spearheaded structured dialogues with the European Parliament, organising a breakfast meeting on the latest trends in the domains of ITS while discussing ways to spur on innovation. Hosted by the Vice Chair of the TRAN Committee and former European Commissioner, MEP Virginijus Sinkevičius, and moderated by Agne Vaitekenaite, Head of Partnership & Advocacy, and our team, as well as representatives from the Suervisory Board and Strategy Committee, we exchanged ideas on strategic initiatives in the ITS domain and policy measures such as the European Green Deal, Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, the ITS Directive, the Data and AI Acts, the Automotive Action Plan, and the Cyber Resilience Act.
Artificial Intelligence has been a defining theme of 2025
Our White Paper on Perspectives on AI in Mobility and the first webinar in our “Focus On” Partnership series provided a platform to share expertise and convene dialogue with DG MOVE, DG CNECT, DG RTD, as well as through our collaboration with ITS Germany under the AIAMO Project. These exchanges are vital to shaping the safe and effective deployment of AI in mobility, not only in Europe but globally. The launch of the AI Continent Action Plan in April reinforced Europe’s ambition in this field, and ERTICO has aligned its work accordingly as we now prepare our “Apply AI” strategy for the months ahead.
We also contributed to European research and innovation policy discussions, presenting ERTICO’s recommendations on the Framework Programme 10 (FP10). Research, innovation and skills are fundamental EU assets for competitiveness, and ERTICO continues to advocate strongly for a mission-driven programme that meets industrial challenges. In parallel, we published a memorandum on intelligent transport systems, highlighting their transformative potential to address pressing mobility challenges such as congestion, emissions, automation, and digitalisation, while outlining a strategic vision for the future of ITS in Europe.
Our policy work was also reflected in the Expert Group on Urban Mobility recommendations, which we co-authored. The report Inclusive and Sustainable Future of Urban Mobility in Europe offers concrete pathways for cities to advance accessibility, e-mobility, MaaS and drone integration.
European and Global Thought Leadership
In the lead-up to the 16th ITS European Congress in Seville, our team worked to address gender inequalities in the ITS industry, co-creating activities such as those on International Women’s Day. Diversity and inclusion remain an ongoing ambition that we continue to embed across our activities.
The Congress itself was a spectacular achievement. With more than 3,000 participants, 150 sessions, 140 exhibitors and multiple live demonstrations, Seville offered outstanding coverage of real-life mobility applications. I was particularly proud of how our Partners and team worked together to make this event a showcase of innovation and collaboration. Seville became a living example of how knowledge, technology, and cooperation converge to drive real impact.
Beyond Seville, ERTICO remained highly visible across many events in Europe and beyond, including Drive Forward in Helmond, EUCAD 2025 in Ispra, POLIS Leadership Summit in Rome, ITF/OECD Workshop in Paris, the International Symposium: Navigating the Future of Traffic Management in Athens, and the Global Transport Connectivity Forum in Istanbul, to mention a few. Each of these forums provided opportunities to share expertise, engage with stakeholders, and reinforce our thought leadership role in transport digitalisation.
Most recently on the global stage, we intensified preparations for the ITS World Congress in Atlanta, co-organised with ITS America and ITS Asia-Pacific. This Congress represented a great opportunity for the ERTICO delegation to contribute with its breadth of expertise in many sessions on automation, AI, and multimodal mobility. It also marked the launch of our journey towards the 2027 ITS World Congress in Birmingham. Co-created with the host of Transport for West Midlands, the joint UK–ERTICO ITS Europe Pavilion presented the first insight into the available Partnership and Exhibition opportunities. In parallel, the Call for Contributions to the Technical Programme opened for the 2026 ITS European Congress in Istanbul, hosted by ISBAK and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
A Breath of Expertise: Partnership and Projects
Strengthening our Partnership and expanding its expertise is central to what we do. In 2025, we welcomed eight new members: SALFO Engineering & Management, SHIFT – London Legacy Development Corporation’s innovation agency, Miovision, Actia, Beemobs, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Luxembourg National Data Service, and Systra UK & Ireland.
Sharing knowledge among our Partners and the wider community is equally important. This year, we published many insights, including the second edition of the ITS Market Radar Report 2025, more episodes of our Connecting Dots & Talks podcast series, and introduced a new interview series, ‘Partners in Spotlight’.
Alongside these developments, we saw remarkable progress across many activities, including the launch of ten new European-funded projects: CHORUS, SMARTIN, FEDORA, CCAMbassador, CERTAIN, MOBIEDIC, SCUDO, MACBETH, O-CEI and CAMBER. These projects will continue to accelerate the adoption and deployment of various mobility solutions across Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM), Data Sharing, Traffic Management, Safety, Multimodal Integration, and AI applications in transport.
We also celebrated the conclusion of many flagship projects, including GUIDE, FAME, PoDIUM, NAPCORE, SINFONICA and SUNRISE. Until the end of the year, we will also finalise V4SAFETY, IN2CCAM, LeMesurier, PRIVATEER and NextETRUCK.
Moving Forward with Renewed Energy
As I look back on these intense first months of the year, what stands out is not just the scale of the activity but the collective spirit that carried us through. Now, as we enter the last months of 2025, the team is already advancing with impressive deliveries, from the ITS World Congress in Atlanta to a busy September full of new project proposals. At the core, our priorities remain clear: deepening our thought leadership and representing the voice of our Partnership to achieve safer, more resilient and efficient mobility solutions for an inclusive society.
Our cooperation with the community of ITS Nationals will also be intensified, focusing on presenting concrete solutions to our colleagues in the countries for the ITS Congress cycle, thought leadership insights, project work and synchronisation of various initiatives to make ITS tangible for the user community.
Finally, our values: Cooperative, Impactful, Open, Passionate, Visionary, remain the compass guiding all that we do. These values were also at the centre of our off-site team event, which will provide an invaluable moment to reflect, connect, and share new ideas to bring our vision and mission to life.
To all our Partners, stakeholders, and friends: thank you for your trust, your energy, and your collaboration.
Together, we are not just imagining the future of mobility - we are building it.
Joost Vantomme, CEO of ERTICO – ITS Europe