Abu Dhabi Government Launches the Global Road and Traffic Safety Conference 2018

Published: Thu Sep 27 2018


About 250 participants representing more than 30 companies from across the GCC and Europe took part in the Global Road and Traffic Safety Conference 2018 which was held on 24-25 September at the Rosewood Hotel, Abu Dhabi.

The conference was organized by Advanced Conferences and Meetings under the patronage of Abu Dhabi City Municipality with support and participation from the UAE Ministry of Infrastructure Development MOID, Department of Transport Abu Dhabi DoT, Abu Dhabi Police, Al Ain Municipality and a host of other government entities.

The event was organized in line with the UAE’s vision 2021 national agenda to position the country as one of the world’s best in road quality and infrastructure and in line with the United Nation’s decade of Action strategic goals 2020. The event also present an opportunity for the Abu Dhabi government entities to leading the emirates Road Safety agenda to present the newly updated Road Safety Strategy for the emirate. Providing an opportunity to review the emirate’s milestones and achievements towards achieving its ambitious zero fatality goal.

In his opening speech, Eng. Eisa Mubarak Ali Al Mazrouie, Executive Director of Municipal Infrastructure and Assets, Abu Dhabi City Municipality which was delivered by Eng. Sami Bani Hashim, Director of Infrastructure Support Division at the Municipality outlined the commitment of the municipality towards contributing its part to achieving the emirates road safety strategy. In another keynote presentation, Eng. Khamis Al Shehyari, Head of Road Assets management section, Ministry of Infrastructure Development added that the UAE is ranked high in the global competitive index report when it comes to quality of roads and how the government continues to implement best practices to improve the quality of all federal roads in the country.

The role and contribution of the Abu Dhabi Police and Department of Transport were highlighted by Capt. Eng Mohammed Aleisaei, Head of Traffic Studies and Research, Abu Dhabi Police and Eng. Ali Aljasmi, Chief Engineer infrastructure DoT respectively. The conference also featured international keynote speech from Mr. Patrick Mallejacq, Secretary General, World Road Association, PIARC and Ms. Susanna Zammataro, Director General, International Road Federation – Geneva who both commended the Abu Dhabi government and shared international best practices.

One of the highlight of the event was when HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH SAIF BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN, MINISTER OF INTERIOR AND DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF THE UAE AND CROWN PRINCE OF ABU DHABI attended the event to listen and observe the deliberations. He later released a message on his Twitter handle appreciating the efforts of the organizers and Abu Dhabi Municipality and other government entities for organizing the event and contributing to the UAE road safety agenda.
Other important highlight of the event was the presentations from the event’s road safety partner, Al Futtaim Automotive, Volvo who presented their latest Volvo Trucks and Autonomous Truck called Vera. In their joint presentation, Marcus Rothoff, Director and Head of Drive Me, Volvo Car Group and Eng. Anna Berling, Director of Traffic Situation Management, Volvo Trucks presented the latest technology and additional safety features now in Volvo products including the Volvo FH Safety Edition introduced in the UAE. She also hinted on the newly launched Volvo autonomous Truck called VERA which was recently unveiled in Germany. There was a VIP tour and showcase round Volvo Trucks and Cars which were exhibited at the venue. Officials from Abu Dhabi Police lead by Brigadier Eng. Salem Al Dhaheri, Director of Traffic and Patrols Department, Abu Dhabi Municipality and Department of Transport inspected the trucks and were briefed by the Al Futtaim Automotive and Volvo officials present.

Other topics covered at the conference across the two days include: road safety education and awareness campaign presented by Thomas Edelmann, Founder & Managing Director, Road Safety UAE, Case study from Masdar City green mobility by Stephen Severance, Head of Program Management and Marketing, Masdar City, Systematic innovation and its application to road management and traffic safety for smart cities by Jabir Walji, Innovation Expert, Systematic Innovation, Traffic calming in Abu Dhabi City by Eng. Mohammed Faisal Al Hashmi, Road Safety Unit Head, Abu Dhabi City Municipality, European experience and best practices on improving road safety education and public awareness campaign strategy by Emily Coenegrachts, Director Consulting Department, VIAS Institute, Innovative smart lighting solution for improving visibility at night and in bad weather by Eng. David Dunn, Lighting Expert, Abu Dhabi City Municipality and Improving pedestrian safety management in Al Ain and other environments by Eng. David George, Road Safety Specialist, Al Ain City Municipality.

The event featured 3 panel sessions to deep dive into key topics such as: Application of intelligent transport systems and AI to improve road traffic safety which had Scott Fennelly, Co-Founder and Director of ITS and Transportation Services at Surface Mobility Consultants, Eng. Stephen Lambert, Road Safety Engineer, Abu Dhabi City Municipality, Marcus Rothoff, Autonomous Drive Solution Architect, Director, Volvo Car Group. The other panel focused on "Effective maintenance and management of large fleet" and had Nenad Gobeljic, Chief Executive Consultant, Gobel Fleet Solutions, Eng. Anna Berling, Director of Traffic Situation Management, Volvo Trucks, Waseem Shahzad, HSE Manager, Agility Engineering Contracting Company sharing best practices and ideas on how operators and owners can leverage fleet management systems to improve vehicle and driver safety.

Overall, participants were enlightened and had the chance to engage with speakers and thought leaders driving decision and implementing road and traffic safety strategies in Abu Dhabi and the UAE.
At the end of the second day, the conference Chairman, Mr. George Zakhem, General Manager, Automobile and Touring Club – UAE gave his closing remarks by summarizing all the key highlights of the conference.

The event was sponsored by Al Futtaim Automotive, Volvo, SSAB, HARDOX, North Star Lighting, Dubai Technologies and Gulfco. Our International Partners include World Road Congress PIARC and International Road Federation – Geneva Program (IRF). Smart Kiosk was our digital partner and Road Safety UAE as our media partner.

To be part of the 2019 edition, please visit the website http://www.roadtrafficsafetyabudhabi.com/ for updates or email us at opportunities@acm-events.com
Contact Name: michellepetizaacm
Contact Email: michelle.petiza@acm-events.com

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