Highlights from the ERTICO Team in 2025
2025 has been a year of progress, collaboration, and tangible impact for the ERTICO team. Fuelled by diverse expertise, creativity, and dedication, our colleagues have demonstrated a strong collective spirit both within ERTICO and across our wider network of Partners and external stakeholders. Through their shared ambition and commitment to every activity and initiative, they have also reflected on what drives their work and the values that inspire them to excel.
Driving innovation through impact
This year, the Innovation & Deployment team has advanced EU-funded projects and ERTICO Innovation Platforms, shaping the next generation of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). Whether enabling deployment of automated and connected mobility, advancing solutions in electric mobility, or supporting seamless cross-border freight operations, our work remained centred on users and safety.
Among many new team members, Project Manager Dr Roozbeh Mohammadi joined the FEDORA project with a mission to transform traffic managemnt across European cities. He explains, “Joining ERTICO is a fantastic opportunity to be in touch with the vast network of people and organisations driving smart mobility forward, particularly in areas like Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV) and the electrification of mobility.”
Project Manager, Apollo Tirneci also joined our team recently and is actively involved in the JULIA project, providing expertise into redefining public transport through precise positioning, route optimisation, and demand-responsive operations.
With sustainability at the heart of intelligent transport, Project Manager Emin Aliyev, comments, “Clean eco-mobility is very important because it's really the future of our urban environment. I'm happy to be in this clean and mobility topics, being involved, and then bring this change that we all expect”. Emin is working on the ZEV-UP project which is developing ultra-compact battery electric vehicles with swappable batteries. It exemplifies how innovation can tackle urban challenges like pollution, noise, and congestion.
Mobility is becoming increasingly more about people. Another new member of our team, Senior Manager, María Alonso Raposo comments, “The unique value of working at ERTICO is the chance to connect with a wide network of public and private players in the ITS ecosystem and to contribute directly to cutting-edge projects shaping the future of mobility.” She has brought this principle to life in the EvoRoads project, advancing Europe’s Vision Zero ambition to eliminate road fatalities by 2050.
Sharing this commitment is Project Support Manager, Martina Ferrara Snider who focuses on inclusive and gender-responsive mobility. She notes, “Mobility should work for everyone. And that means listening, learning, and redesigning from the ground up.” Through the ERTICO-coordinated metaCCAZE project, Martina aim to uncover patterns in how people move, ensuring that smarter mobility works for everyone.
Fostering culture of openness and collaboration
ERTICO’s impact extends beyond technology to a culture of teamwork, knowledge sharing, and cross-sector collaboration. Head of PMO, John Paddington, connects teams and projects across Europe, embedding best practices and enables smoother information exchange. He believes that understanding diverse perspectives across countries strengthens project outcomes. While coordinating the CulturalRoad project John leads the Innovation Communications team and contributes to cross-departmental collaboration. He explains, “I'm looking at how we can do best practice within our projects and our proposals. I collaborate with the other departments, Communications, Congress and Partnership, looking at how do we embed knowledge sharing and better information sharing within ERTICO.”
Collaboration is also key for the Partnership & Advocacy department, led by Agne Vaitekenaite. After five years at ERTICO, she reflects, “The engagement with EU institutions and international organisations has further amplified ERTICO’s role as a thought leader. Through these alliances, I have worked to create spaces for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and joint action.”
Shaping the Conversation: From Projects Communication to the ITS Congresses
Behind every successful initiative is a dedicated team translating technical vision into tangible impact. Our new colleague in the Innovation Communications team, Roberta Rapagnani shares, “Working at ERTICO means learning every day from brilliant minds and helping bring innovative mobility projects to life through impactful communication. The collaborative, supportive environment makes it easy to grow and contribute.” Roberta contributes to a range of activites, including the newly launched SMARTIN project, NAPCORE and ERTICO’s Innovation Platform TN-ITS.
ERTICO’s communications colleagues shape the storytelling behind every activity. “I know that the work I do will make a difference in transport around Europe, saving lives, and generally making transport a better place for everybody,” says Matthew O’Rourke, who works in the Congresses’ Communications & Marketing department. Together with the team, he helps build awareness and visibility for the ITS Congresses, ERTICO’s annual landmark events i for smart, sustainable and inclusive mobility in Europe and EMEA region.
Behind the scenes, Maral Kaplan, Junior Programme Officer, also plays a key role in the success of each Congress. “Being involved in the organisation of large-scale international events that bring together public authorities, experts and innovators from all over the world. It’s exciting to see through the Congresses how collaboration turns ideas into action for smarter and more sustainable mobility.” Maral ensures that every session, speaker, and participant experiences the full value of collaboration and knowledge exchange. Her work lays the groundwork for upcoming milestones like the 2026 ITS European Congress in Istanbul and the 2027 ITS World Congress in Birmingham.
Each of these stories reflects the ERTICO’s spirit: a shared commitment to driving positive change in mobility and transport for all. Through collaboration, innovation, and passion, we are buildling the future of mobility.
Following the remarkable achievements of 2025, the ERTICO team looks forward to continuing its journey towards a smarter, safer, and more sustainable mobility in the years ahead.