QMIC Holds the First Connected Vehicles Field Demo in the MENA Region: Enabling Next Generation of Road Safety
Doha: April 28, 2014: the Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC) showcased the first Connected Vehicles field demo in the MENA region in an event held at the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) today. The event was attended by VIPs from the government, industry, research and academic sectors in Qatar.
Connected Vehicles (V2X) refers to the concept where vehicles can communicate with each other and with the road infrastructure through standard-based wireless technologies and specifications. This emerging technology has attracted global attention due to its critical role in enabling cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) which will have a significant impact road safety and traffic efficiency. According to industry projections, once fully implemented, connected vehicles can mitigate up to 80% of crashes by unimpaired drivers. Hence, regulatory frameworks are in being put in place around the world to speed up the deployment of V2X system and technologies.
Dr. Adnan Abu-Dayya, Executive Director (CEO) of QMIC said, “Today represents a key milestone in QMIC’s effort to establish regional leadership in the area of next generation road safety, in general, and Connected Vehicles, in particular. Our field demo today, which uses our own implementation of the ETSI-connected vehicle standard together with our suite of applications, represents the first stage of our strategy to create a Connected Vehicles industry in Qatar. We will be working closely with key stakeholders in Qatar to implement a large scale pilot system which can lead to early national deployment well before the 2022 world cup in Qatar. This is fully in-line with the country ITS strategy and road safety action plan”.
Today’s event culminated a 3-year effort by QMIC’s Connected Vehicles technology team. In addition to the intense R&D effort, the team regularly participated in global standard activities and in a number of PlugtestTM events held in Europe. QMIC’s Connected Vehicles program was partially funded through a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), through the 3rd cycle of the NPRP program, led by Dr. Fethi Filali, Senior Manager, Technology Development and Planning at QMIC
As part of the field demo, QMIC has deployed 5 of its road side units within the QSTP campus and fitted two cars with its own on-board units. The demo included several live applications that tackle scenarios in which Connected Vehicles will play a role in enhancing the quality and safety of future driving. Some of the most significant use cases shown include, receiving alerts in time to avoid collisions, receiving real-time travel time info for dynamic routing and guidance, be informed about road work ahead of time for smarter and safer actions, receiving alerts of nearby broken down vehicles and emergency vehicles, getting over speeding alerts, receiving updates about dynamic speed limit, and receiving info about optimal driving speed to avoid stopping at traffic lights.
Today’s event also included a workshop delivered by Dr. Fethi Filali, Senior Manager, Technology Development and Planning at QMIC, and Dr. Hamid Menouar, Connected Vehicles Product Manager and R&D Expert at QMIC where they provided detailed information about the technology, system architecture, impact on road safety and traffic efficiency, global standard activities, and QMIC’s detailed roadmap.
Dr. Fethi Filali, Senior Manager of Technology Development and Planning at QMIC said, “It is a great honor to be the first in the region to do such a significant event for an emerging and important technology that will play a key role in supporting the country’s road safety and ITS strategy. We fully appreciate the support and funding we received from QNRF that enabled us to establish regional leadership in this area”.
QMIC’s Connected Vehicles platform supports an end-to-end architecture including the Onboard Unit (installed in vehicles), a Road Side Unit (installed on the Roads) and a Mobility Services Center enabling relevant and customized services & applications. QMIC is the only R&D Center in the MENA region, which is globally involved in the Connected Vehicles standards and has successfully participated in the three Plugtests™ for interoperability testing and compliance.
About QMIC
The Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC), located at the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), is the first independent regional innovations center that was created to leverage the use of emerging mobility technologies and lifestyle in developing and deploying intelligent solutions and smart applications for use in a number of markets including Transportation, Road Safety, Environment, and Smart City Platforms. QMIC was founded with the objective of filling the existing gap in the region for institutions focusing on applied research and solutions delivery with the aim of creating local knowledge-based ventures.
For further information please contact:
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