April 19, 2017: Recent industry reports have shown that the continuously growing rate of technological change has been identified as one of the major drivers in the evolution of the global transport landscape. Looking to increase more awareness on this evolving phenomenon, TRL, the global centre for innovation in transport and mobility, is set to showcase the emerging and upcoming trends in the Future of Transport for the UAE during its participation at the coming Smart Infrastructure Summit, an event aimed at discussing and debating on the various technologies and systems that bridge the gap between ‘Now’ and the ‘Future,’ which will be held from April 26, 2017 at the Habtoor Grand Hotel in Dubai.

TRL's presence at the event demonstrates its important role in facilitating research and innovative activities that helps enable the transport industry in learning and benefiting from new technological advancements--without compromising the safety, efficiency, quality of the services provided or the infrastructure they depend on.

According to TRL, the world is currently witness to the evolution of smart infrastructure, which can mainly be attributed to three key factors--adaptability, connectivity and resilience. The leading research firm shared that the adaptable road concept is based on a system that can be implemented gradually across UAE's motorways and remote and urban road networks--adapting to increased travel volumes and changes in demand. These roads can harvest solar energy, measure their own performance and even repair themselves. Meanwhile, the automated road relates to the ability to send and receive data. The concept envisions a fully integrated system that works closely with the user, the vehicle, services and operations. Such a system can provide support for a cooperative vehicle highway system that can manage the demands for travel and traffic movement. It can measure, report and respond to its own condition. Lastly, the resilient road will be able to cope and benefit from extreme environmental conditions. The concept sees adaptability to the impacts of extreme weather and climate change--monitoring situations like flooding, snow, ice, wind, or extreme temperatures and mitigates their adverse impacts. The system can also be linked to an integrated information grid to provide additional insights to travellers and operators.

“We are looking forward to being part of the Smart Infrastructure Summit, which is being positioned as a strategic platform to talk about emerging technologies and the impact they bring to the world,” said Akin Adamson, Director – Middle East, TRL. “Our presence at the event proves to be very significant, particularly because of the role we play in assessing and proving these new technologies--not just from a technology perspective, but also from a usability perspective. The object of these events is to share learnings and create new ideas for the future.”

During the one-day summit, TRL's Akin Adamson will be discussing how smart mobility can be enabled by building smarter infrastructure. His panel discussion will throw focus on how the UAE and the rest of the GCC region can create and use smart technology for a host of infrastructure initiatives being implemented over the coming years. The title of the panel discussion will be about Smart Mobility Opportunities in the UAE - Smart Mobility, Non-Pollutant Transportation and Road Technology.