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IAP ‘unmatched’ as telematics platform
The Intelligent Access Program (IAP) is ‘unmatched’ as a suitable platform for delivering regulatory traffic telematics applications according to Mr Bernhard Oehry, an international expert on traffic telematics.
“The IAP constitutes an excellent organisational basis on which to build other telematics applications. It is based on a functional specification and does not prescribe a certain technical solution. More applications can be added into the framework with additional specifications.
“What the applications deal with, and what the exact nature of the applications should be are secondary matters provided there is a regulatory body that sets standards, certifies service providers and manages the overall organisational structure,” Mr Oehry observed.
“In Australia, and especially regarding the IAP, the approach taken has been better focused [than the European approach] on creating applications for clearly defined regulatory needs,” he noted.
Mr Oehry, Head of Traffic Telematics at leading Swiss-based independent engineering consultancy Rapp Trans AG, is the principal author of the Transport Regulatory Uses of Telematics in Europe report and was in Australia recently to present the report’s findings.
The report was commissioned by Transport Certification Australia Limited (TCA), the company administering the IAP, as part of its function to monitor technological developments. The IAP is a voluntary vehicle telematics solution which provides operators of heavy vehicles enhanced access to the Australian road network.
According to Mr Oehry, managing traffic will be one of the ‘key issues that will shape our future’, and he expects traffic telematics to play a central role in dealing with this issue.
“There is good reason to remain convinced that traffic telematics is the best available tool for tackling the traffic problems that this century will bring,” he noted.
Six European regulatory telematics applications, including the digital tachograph and heavy vehicle charging, are examined in the report. Emerging technologies with the potential to impact on regulatory telematics applications in the future are also discussed.
TCA Chief Executive Officer Mr Chris Koniditsiotis says the report is ‘informative and insightful’ and beneficial for ‘all interested parties’ to familiarise themselves with the potential uses and applications of this enabling technology.
“The report clearly identifies that vehicle telematics is a tool and not an end in itself. It highlights the importance of proper application definition, that is, ‘what is the problem to which vehicle telematics provides a possible solution’, of setting standards, and of driving the development of regulatory traffic telematics applications through a process-oriented approach,” Mr Koniditsiotis said.
The two volume Transport Regulatory Uses of Telematics in Europe report, together with a more detailed version of Mr Oehry’s comments, can be downloaded from the TCA website www.tca.gov.au.
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View the media releaseGo to TCA home page |
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