IT-TRANS 2022: Responding to today’s challenges with intelligent mobility
Industry experts from around the world come together in Karlsruhe
After a successful eighth edition, IT-TRANS has once again shown that intelligent mobility has an important role to play in the future, with more exhibitors, innovations and international participants than ever before. At a time of climate crisis and rising energy prices, multimodal transport networks are decisive. By combining private and public transport providers, they boost convenience and therefore acceptance. “Mobility is an issue that affects all of society”, says Britta Wirtz, CEO of Messe Karlsruhe, which hosted the event together with the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). “The challenge we face is to satisfy changing mobility needs while simultaneously achieving our climate goals. We believe that public transport will play a key role here, as future-ready, digitally connected transport and mobility solutions combined with intermodal approaches are the only way to meet both these objectives. That is why IT-TRANS and Karlsruhe as a technology hub are the ideal platform for this.” Dr Volker Wissing, the German government’s Minister for Digital and Transport, emphasised the particular status of Karlsruhe in shaping the mobility of the future: “You are turning Karlsruhe into a hotspot for sustainable mobility”, he summarised in a video message to organisers, partners and supporters of IT-TRANS at the opening of the event.
The relevance of the topics discussed at the trade fair was also reflected in the higher visitor numbers. This year’s IT-TRANS attracted around 6,500 guests from 71 countries (2018: 6,000), with 70 per cent coming for the first time. Most strikingly of all, these visitors came from all over the world: from Europe and Australia to Asia and Africa. All were eager to discover the innovative solutions that are already reality today and to find out about the trends that are shaping the industry.
Karlsruhe a hotspot for sustainable mobility
With its unique collaboration between science, industry, government and transport providers, Karlsruhe is known throughout Germany and Europe as a hub for sustainable mobility. The city is also one of Europe’s most important IT clusters, with 25 research institutes focusing on issues related to IT and digitalisation. These all make Karlsruhe a leader in research whose reputation extends well beyond the region. IT-TRANS has a key position in this ecosystem.
IT-TRANS 2022 saw the first presentation of the Karlsruhe Mobility Lab: a unique and exemplary cooperation between science, industry, public authorities and innovative transport organisations involving 34 projects. These are dedicated to developing and implementing smart concepts for the urban and regional mobility of the future, and have already gained global attention and praise. “Researchers from the region are making important contributions to the transport revolution worldwide. Karlsruhe can therefore rightly see itself as a pioneer in sustainable mobility development”, says Jochen Ehlgötz, Managing Director of TechnologieRegion Karlsruhe GmbH.
IT-TRANS leads the way in the international mobility sector
276 international exhibitors from 33 countries as diverse as China, the USA and all over Europe presented their latest solutions and shared their experiences with colleagues and visitors from all over the world. This represented an increase over the last event in 2018. “We have been at IT-TRANS since the very beginning and have not missed one yet”, says Anna Bergstedt, Marketing Manager at Axentia Technologies in Sweden. “We were so disappointed when the in-person trade fair in 2020 was cancelled because of the pandemic, and are now even happier to be back and meeting both new and existing customers face to face. IT-TRANS is such an important event for us. Here we can network with customers and secure new business”. This was also reflected in feedback from visitors, 95 per cent of whom had a very positive view of the exhibitors’ presentations.
The three-day conference with 180 speakers also went down well. 800 delegates attended, around 30 per cent more than in 2018. They saw presentations from industry thought leaders and took the opportunity to network with colleagues. Various elements of the event were also offered digitally, with 130 people tuning into the conference remotely.
The next edition of IT-TRANS is scheduled for 14 to 16 May 2024. Around half of the stand spaces have already been reserved by exhibitors.
