And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been

December 17, 2019

The famous Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) put it into simple words. Year by year we believe in the progress made during the last 12 months – knowing that next year’s developments will be even more important, expecting things that have never been.

Plenty of new things were to come during 2019 for the TISA Community, too. The I4AD project turned out even better than expected. During the ITS World Congress and Exhibition TISA was able to present a first demonstrator arousing the interest of experts. We can proudly say that this was possible thanks to the excellent support of Elektrobit and GEWI, proving once again that TISA continues to be a membership driven organisation with great commitment to both technical and strategical goals.

In context with other activities (like MaaS, ADASIS, or other) we can be proud about finalising the TPEG Public Transport Application. Such piece of technology fosters different strategies for multi-modality and makes us pursue our goal of supporting smart mobility developments. I’m pretty sure: attractive services that address both the needs of individual and public transport will be available soon.

The landmark of my hometown Cologne is the world-famous cathedral. It is said that the day the construction of the cathedral, the world will end. I believe this can also be said about TISA. I think this could be also said about TISA. Our community is in constant change. Ever new challenges require attentive observation of our environment. The colleagues of the Steering Board and of the Executive office, for whose commitment I would like to express my utmost gratitude, have accepted this responsibility and did an outstanding strategic work. The next phase of our migration must now be about structural issues, but I am sure that TISA will meet this challenge with great responsibility.

We can gather strength and ideas for all these topics in the quiet time that lies ahead and we should not forget one thing: Christmas is a requirement. There must be at least one day of the year to remind us that we are here for something besides ourselves.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Yours,

Thomas Kusche-Knezevic