Brussels (10 November 2004) – Over 130 delegates attended the conference “Getting there with European standards” on 3rd and 4th November, enjoying presentations on transport related subjects as diverse as interoperability, accessibility, safety and the environment.

Many speakers at the conference, organised by the European Standards Organisations (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI) and dedicated to transport standards, stressed the need for a coordinated effort to help all interested parties understand the need for standards based interoperable solutions to the benefit of the market and the user.

In his written address to the conference, Mr Luís Queiró, Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Transport and Tourism, concentrated on the support of the European Parliament for innovation from enterprises and the importance of the success of the European Transport Policy.

Speaking about transport security, Mr Queiró acknowledged the role of standards and encouraged agencies to improve their participation in standards work, stating:

“At institutional level, the creation and the start of the agencies for aerial security, railway security and maritime security whose competences can expand to interoperability, standardisation and certification must be saluted”.

Mr Karsten Meinhold, Chairman of the conference and of the CEN/CENELEC/ETSI Joint Presidents' Group, observed:

“Being in Brussels, the home of the Parliament and the European Commission, provides an excellent opportunity for policy makers and standards makers to talk and progress to a better understanding of how standards can save resources and improve openness as we enter a new transport age”.

One initiative, aimed at cooperation in the road and traveller information area, has already resulted in the first edition of “A Strategic Framework for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Standards”¹ authored by the ITS Standards Steering Group (ITSSG), which is a collaboration of some of the major experts in ITS standards development and a working group of the ICT Standards Board.

Ms Cathy Jenkins, Head of ITS Policy for the Department for Transport in the UK and chair of the ITSSG, commented:

“Standards need to be relevant and to help deliver something of benefit to end users, and by doing so facilitate and support delivery of policy objectives.   ITSSG exists to bring the ITS standards community closer together and to strengthen the key role that technical and other standards must play in an overall transport context. ”

More information and copies of the main presentations are freely available from http://www.cenorm.be/cenorm/news/events/programme.asp

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¹The document “A Strategic Framework for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Standards” focuses on the roads sector, and on public transport in a multi-modal context, for example in relation to smart cards and traffic and traveller information.  Some reference is made, for completeness, to other modes of transport.

For further information & a copy of the Framework document: http://www.ictsb.org/ITSSG_home.htm

Notes to editors

About CEN

The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) is the officially recognized European Standards Organization for standardization in areas other than the electrotechnical and telecommunications fields. Its national members have been working together since 1961 to develop voluntary European Standards (ENs) in various sectors. Today CEN has 28 Members collaborating to build a European Internal Market for goods and services. CEN works with over 60.000 technical experts and with one European Standard allows access to a market of more than 460 million people.

For further information please visit: www.cenorm.be

About CENELEC

Based in Brussels, Belgium, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) is officially responsible for standardization in the electrotechnical field. Its members have been working together in the interests of European harmonization since the 1950s, creating both voluntary and Harmonized Standards which have helped to shape the European Internal Market. CENELEC works with 35,000 technical experts from 28 European countries. Its work directly increases market potential, encourages technological development and guarantees the safety and health of consumers.

Detailed information is available at www.cenelec.org.

About ETSI:

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) plays a major role in global standardization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), including telecommunications and broadcasting. ETSI unites around 700 member companies from nearly 60 countries, including manufacturers, network operators, administrations, service providers, research bodies and users – in fact, all the key players in the ICT arena

For more information: www.etsi.org