QMIC launches live intelligent mobility showcase
Feb. 23, 2021
Doha: Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC) recently launched an intelligent mobility showcase to demonstrate various smart applications and services in Connected & Automated Vehicles (V2X), Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
This live showcase, held on the campus of the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), will last till March 4 to expose it to relevant stakeholders and decision-makers across different segments in the local market. V2X is an emerging technology in intelligent mobility. The technology will allow road infrastructure — for example traffic lights, road signs and displays — to communicate seamlessly with road users to exchange useful info and data. It will allow V2X-enabled cars to talk with other cars and pedestrians per a globally accepted standard or language.
Once deployed at a large scale on the roads and in-cars, V2X can significantly enhance road safety by reducing up to 80% of road accidents and decrease traffic congestion. Additionally, it is a vital enabler for realizing autonomous vehicles as connectivity is becoming an important sensor to complement traditional physical sensors like cameras and lidars. In particular, connectivity is essential for exchanging time-sensitive info among road users under all weather conditions without a need for line-of-sight visibility.
As part of this showcase, live V2X field demos are conducted at the campus of QSTP, which presented a variety of real-life scenarios and applications and demonstrated how V2X technology would benefit drivers. Various applications that rely on vehicle-to-vehicle communications and others that depend on infrastructure to vehicle communications are part of the live showcase demonstrated by QMIC using an experimental wireless license in the 5.9GHz provided by the Communications and Regulatory Authority (CRA).
Dr. Adnan Abu-Dayya, QMIC’s Executive Director (CEO), said, “The mobility showcases we demonstrated at QSTP culminated many years of intense R&D effort by QMIC. It represents an ongoing joint effort by QMIC and its strategic national partners to gradually introduce pioneering V2X technologies and applications in Qatar. The associated field pilot we are conducting in Qatar represents a critical phase where many technologies, operational, and integration challenges are tackled. More importantly, significant hands-on experience and knowledge are gained, facilitating a transition to the large implementation stage where the technology’s full benefits can be realised. This technical-operational knowledge together with the home-grown mobility platforms and technologies developed by QMIC will contribute to making Qatar an important hub for Intelligent Mobility R&D and innovations in the region.”
These innovative solutions and platforms are bound to become crucial building blocks of Qatar’s intelligent mobility infrastructure. The next steps will include completing the technical/usability pilot stage and expanding its scope by adding many new applications and use cases.
This can potentially be followed by a partial roll-out of the technology & services to specific enterprise user segments before proceeding with a country-wide implementation within the next few years. QMIC extends its invitation to all relevant entities that would like to experience these solutions first-hand and are interested in exploring potential collaboration areas.