Land transport research has received a boost with the signing of a Memorandum of Collaboration by the Land Transport Authority (LTA, www.lta.gov.sg ), the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA, www.ida.gov.sg ), the Economic Development Board (EDB, www.edb.gov.sg ) and three industry partners to foster technology collaboration in support of the Singapore Urban Transport Solution initiative.

The three statutory boards - LTA, IDA and EDB - will play a facilitative role in the initiative while the industry partners - Cisco ( www.cisco.com ), IBM ( www.ibm.com ), ST Electronics ( www.stee.stengg.com ) and 3M  ( http://www.mmm.com ) have been chosen because of their leadership position in their respective fields.

IDA’s Chief Executive Officer RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay (left) with LTA's Chief Executive, Mr Yam Ah Mee at the signing of the Memorandum of Collaboration.

The Singapore Urban Transport Solution initiative aims to promote Singapore as a centre for research, promote collaboration with leading research and industry partners, and build Singapore's capabilities in world-class urban transport solutions.

LTA's Chief Executive, Mr Yam Ah Mee, who represented LTA at the signing ceremony said, "Under this partnership, research and development will be undertaken to further optimise current technology and explore future ones that will help in realising our vision of a people-centred land transport system."

For IDA, the initiative is in line with its role in spearheading the transformation of key economic sectors through more sophisticated and innovative use of infocomm. "We aim to enhance the infocomm landscape for urban transport through collaboration efforts among the public, private and people sectors to generate and pilot or rollout innovative ideas," said Ms Tan Kar Joo, Senior Director of Cluster Group 1, IDA.

With the innovative use of infocomm for urban transport solutions, commuters will be able to access transport-related services and up-to-the-minute transport information to help them plan and better manage their travelling time and routes. For example, by providing intuitive access to information on traffic incidents or flow, weather report and even car park availability, commuters, pedestrians and other road users will be able to make better travel decisions.

IDA will work with the industry to conceptualise and develop innovative transport services that the private sector can offer. In addition, the initiative will bring together different players in the infocomm industry, including world-class infocomm companies, for technology research, innovation and commercialisation of urban transport solutions. "This will help to build Singapore’s capabilities in this area and contribute to the Singapore Urban Transport Solution objective of establishing Singapore as a centre for developing world-class urban transport solutions," said Ms Tan.

EDB, on its part, will facilitate interaction between the consortium and industry partners from across the world.

The industry players in the consortium will also bring different strengths and expertise to the partnership. Cisco brings innovative networking technologies and its experience in working with other municipal governments on similar city-wide projects. IBM will combine its expertise in developing world-class transportation systems and innovations from IBM Research Laboratories to contribute in areas such as advanced analytics and optimisation of transport data as well as information management and integration.

ST Electronics will collaborate with LTA in the area of Interactive Road Transportation Infrastructure. This will involve research and development of road user applications and robust ad-hoc wireless mesh communications technologies to introduce a more interactive and inclusive road transport user experience that caters to different needs. 3M will bring in their expertise in noise control, light management and display materials.