SAE International and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will convene a joint workshop about "How communications will change vehicles and transport" on 8-9 October 2018, Detroit, United States co‑located with the event "From ADAS to Automated Driving", 9‑11 October 2018. Also, the first  meeting of the ITU-T Focus Group on Vehicular Multimedia (FG-VM), will be held at the BlackBerry/QNX, Ottawa Office, Ontario, Canada, on 11 October 2018. Interested participants are invited to relocate to Ottawa on 10 October 2018 for the kick-off of the FG-VM meeting on 11 October 2018.

Intelligent transport systems (ITS) and automated driving are fast moving toward widespread commercialization and market acceptance. High levels of automation – the penultimate step to fully automated driving – are expected on the road by 2020 and hold great promise to improve road safety, reduce congestion and emissions, and increase the accessibility of personal mobility.

Convergence of the automotive industry and the information and communication technology (ICT) industry is an ongoing process. Undoubtedly, this will provide new business opportunities and new scenarios to the benefit of the industry, as well as consumers and government agencies.  The society of the future requires innovative approaches to support a range of smart city solutions to enable, eventually, more intelligent transport systems and increased connectivity and mobility for urban dwellers.

The workshop on "How communications will change vehicles and transport" will be comprised of thought-leaders from automotive, telecom service providers and network infrastructure communities to discuss current partnerships and opportunities within the ITS market, in addition to the impending regulatory environment, proposed technologies and consumer trends that will shape the future of the automotive experience. The event will bring together representatives of the vehicle and ICT industries, academia, and governments to discuss the status and future of intelligent transport systems, from a technical and policy point of view.

At the co-located SAE event "From ADAS to Automated Driving", 9-11 October 2018, OEMs, engineers, systems developers, R&D, management and the entire supply chain will join together to stay abreast of fast-changing landscape of Assisted Driving Systems. Over two-days, subject matter experts will address the current state of the industry, examine the promises and shortcomings of current systems and analyze the potential of systems currently in development.