18th IRF World Meeting & Exhibition: Full Schedule

12:00pm GMT+04

Opening Ceremony & Keynote Addresses

The 18th IRF World Meeting aspires to be a global summit & technology showcase that is both uniquely relevant to a wide cross-section of road mobility stakeholders, and focused on delivering solutions to the world’s pressing mobility questions.

Speakers

H.E. Abdullah Al-Mogbel

Chairman, IRF Global

H.E. Mattar Al-Tayer

Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, Dubai Roads & Transport Authority

His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) & Commissioner General for Infrastructure, Urban Planning and Well-Being holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of... Read More →

Lord Philip Hammond

Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019

Philip Hammond was a UK Cabinet Minister and key member of the British Government for almost a decade. Leading four departments over nine years and rising to the second most powerful job in government, he was one of only three people to serve continuously in the UK cabinet from 2010... Read More →

Sunday November 7, 2021 12:00pm - 12:45pm GMT+04
Main Stage

Main Stage

2:00pm GMT+04

Roads to Tomorrow: Pathways to Sustainable Mobility

The 18th IRF World Meeting & Exhibition opens as world leaders gather for the United Nations COP-26 to agree on a strategic roadmap to decarbonize economic activities. Within this overall target, the transport sector has a key role to play and must identify pragmatic pathways that continue serving the needs of an increasingly mobile world. In July 2021, the European Union adopted an ambitious 55% emissions reduction plan (“Fit for 55”) that will see a complete ban of non-electric vehicles by 2035. This plenary session will set the stage for this important topic addressed through many of the World Meeting sessions.

Moderators

Shelley Row

Former Director, ITS Joint Program Office

An Inc. Magazine top 100 leadership speaker and one of eight engineers who is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), Shelley Row, PE, CSP, is an engineer and the former Director of the USDOT's ITS Joint Program Office. As founder of Blue Fjord Leaders, Shelley’s work focuses on... Read More →

Speakers

H.E. Dr. Amani Abou‐Zeid

Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, African Union Commission

Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid is the Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy at the African Union Commission (AUC). She is in charge of sectors covering Energy, Transport, Tourism and ICT. Prior to joining the AUC, Dr. Abou-Zeid has served for more than 30 years in leadership roles at top-tier... Read More →

H.E. Mark Boris Andrijanič

Minister for Digital Transformation, Slovenia

Mark Boris Andrijanič graduated with honours from the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, and he holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree from the University of Oxford. In July 2021, he was appointed Minister for digital transformation after chairing the Strategic Council for Digitalisation... Read More →

Lord Philip Hammond

Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019

Sunday November 7, 2021 2:00pm - 3:00pm GMT+04
Main Stage

Main Stage

11:30am GMT+04

Delivering the Next Generation of Road Mobility

The mobility landscape for urban agglomerations is being reshaped by disruptive trends impacting the mobility of individuals and goods, and challenging cities to establish a clear vision of what their mobility systems should look like in the future and coherent strategies for getting there. Thought leaders will discuss how to fully enable their urban mobility potential in a digital age.

Moderators

Shelley Row

Former Director, ITS Joint Program Office

Speakers

Randell Iwasaki

Leader, State and Local Transportation, Amazon Web Services

Randy Iwasaki is the Leader of State and Local Transportation for Amazon Web Services (AWS). In that position he leads Amazon’s data support and analysis services for state and local transportation agencies, including; artificial intelligence support; use of AWS services in development... Read More →

Shailen Bhatt

Senior Vice President - Global Transportation Innovation, AECOM

Shailen Bhatt is Senior Vice President, Global Transportation Innovation and Alternative Delivery at AECOM (NYSE:ACM), the world’s premier infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services across the project lifecycle.Mr. Bhatt heads the Innovation and Alternative... Read More →

Daniel Avdagič

City of Ljubljana, CEO of AV Living Lab

Daniel Avdagic is the CEO of AV Living Lab, Elected Member of City Council, The City of Ljubljana, and Member of Slovenian National Digitalization Council.As the founder and CEO of AV Living Lab, Daniel Avdagic is focused on Autonomous Mobility, Artificial Inteligence, Digital Twins... Read More →

Monday November 8, 2021 11:30am - 12:30pm GMT+04
Main Stage

Main Stage

1:30pm GMT+04

Transport Beyond COVID-19: Resilient Policies for the 21st Century (Ministers & Leaders Session)

As the world continues to deal with the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRF has invited Ministers to address the long term outlook for transport planning, including measures designed to future-proof road investments.

Moderators

Dr. William Sowell

Vice President-Cloudastructure, Inc., IRF Senior Vice Chairman

Dr. Bill Sowell currently serves as International Road Federation Senior Vice Chairman. He is a global industry leader of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Connected Vehicles, and the development of new ITS technologies for more than 30 years. He is the only industry veteran... Read More →

Speakers

Prof. Claude Van Rooten

President, PIARC

Civil engineer, Claude Van Rooten spent the first part of his career in Belgian construction companies, before heading the Belgian Road Research Centre for 20 years. Chair or Board member of many European and international technical bodies (in France, Germany, USA), he devoted 20... Read More →

Dr Sung Hwan Kim

President, Road Engineering Association of Asia and Australasia (REAAA)

Current Position- President, Road Engineering Association of Asia and Australasia (REAAA)- Vice Chairperson, SOILTECH EngineeringCareer History-Vice President, SOILTECH Engineering / 2021 ~ present-Vice President, Kunhwa Engineering & Consulting Co. / 2015 ~ 2020-Technical Advisor... Read More →

H.E. Sheikh Nasser Al Qassimi

Assistant Undersecretary for Infrastructure & Transport, Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure, UAE

H.E Sheikh Nasser Majid Al Qassimi is currently holding the position of Assistant Undersecretary for the Infrastructure and Transport Regulatory Sector at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in UAE, which is an entity whose one of its main objectives is to regulate the land... Read More →

H.E. James Macharia

Cabinet Secretary,, Ministry of Transport & Infrastructure, Nigeria

Paul Ajegba

Director, Michigan Department of Transportation

Paul C. Ajegba has more than 31 years of experience with the Michigan Department of Transportation, and after 28 years with the department, he was appointed by Gov. Whitmer as director on Jan. 1, 2019. He previously served MDOT for three months as Metro Region engineer and before... Read More →

Monday November 8, 2021 1:30pm - 3:00pm GMT+04
Main Stage

Main Stage

4:00pm GMT+04

Towards Zero Road Deaths in 2030

In February 2020, Ministers from over 100 countries reaffirmed the objective to cut road fatalities by at least 50% from 2020 to 2030, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Up to 17 million deaths and 500 million injuries are at stake between now and 2030: what lessons have been learned from the first UN Decade of Action for Road Safety and where do the biggest opportunities lie?

Moderators

Chris Sanders

Chair of IRF Road Safety Committee, Lindsay Transportation

Currently newly retired and helping Lindsay with various international business development activities.Former Senior Vice President Lindsay Transportation Solutions and President of Barrier Systems (acquired by Lindsay)Mr. Sanders has been involved in the Highway Safety Industry for... Read More →

Speakers

Dan Chen, Ph.D, P.E.

President, 3M Transportation Safety

Dan Chen is president of 3M’s Transportation Safety Division. As a senior leader, Dan drives global growth for 3M in the road safety and infrastructure industry. Dan is passionate about road safety and Vision Zero initiatives to reduce the 1.35 million roadway fatalities every... Read More →

H.E. Abdulla Al Marzooqi

General Manager, Integrated Transport Center, Abu Dhabi

H.E. Eng. Abdulla Al Marzouqi is the Director General of the Integrated Transport Centre (ITC), the responsible entity for the integrated planning of the land transport, Operating public transport, Managing parking spaces, Traffic monitoring centres, Axle weights stations, Logistical... Read More →

Hon. Mavis Nkansah-Boadu

Deputy Minister, Ministry of Roads & Highways

Mavis Nkansah Boadu is a 31-year-old Ghanaian politician who went to parliament in 2016 at a young age of 26, she was the 2nd youngest parliamentarian to join the 7th parliament.She is currently the Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Roads & Highways as well as the Member of Parliament... Read More →

Song Hye Yeon

Deputy Director of Road Facility Safety Division, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport, Korea

Ms. Hye Yeon Song is a deputy director of road facility safety division in Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport(MOLIT) of Republic of Korea. In that position, Ms. Song manages road facilities and traffic safety policies such as maintaining road facilities(bridge, tunnel... Read More →

Dr. Benjamin Colucci

Transportation Engineering Professor, University of Puerto Rico

Dr. Benjamín Colucci-Ríos, PE, PTOE, F.ITE, F.ASCE, JD 2019 Wilbur S. Smith Distinguished Transportation Educator Award, ITE 2021 Wilbur S. Smith Award, Outstanding Civil Engineer Professional Contributions in Highway Engineering, ASCE T&DI UPRM Outstanding Civil Engineering Professor... Read More →

Monday November 8, 2021 4:00pm - 5:30pm GMT+04
Main Stage

Main Stage

11:00am GMT+04

Speeding up Knowledge Sharing & Talent Development

For more than 70 years, an essential part of IRF’s mission has been the organization and delivery of continuing education services that help build the skills of road professionals and contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and expertise worldwide. This panel of thought leaders will discuss lessons learned and explore the opportunities to leverage a new generation of elearning tools to promote the talent and the public image of the road sector workforce.

Moderators

Shelley Row

Former Director, ITS Joint Program Office

Speakers

Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Aty

Trustee Chair, Pegasus Professor and Dept. Chair, University of Central Florida

Dr. Aty is a Trustee Endowed Chair at University of Central Florida (UCF). He is a Pegasus Distinguished Professor and the Chair of the Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering Department. He is leading the Future City initiative at UCF. He is well recognized in work and... Read More →

Dr. Benjamin Colucci

Transportation Engineering Professor, University of Puerto Rico

Tuesday November 9, 2021 11:00am - 12:30pm GMT+04
Main Stage

Main Stage

1:30pm GMT+04

Decarbonizing Roads by 2050

Transitioning to zero-carbon transport globally is essential to keep climate change in check. Yet five years after the Paris Climate Agreement, transport emissions are still rising. Ahead of COP26, and building on the core themes of the 18th IRF World Meeting, this panel will present key contributions made by the road sector.

Speakers

Frederico Pedroso

Disaster Risk Management Specialist, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery

Fred Pedroso is a civil engineer specialized in providing technical advisory and operational support for DRM activities ranging from disaster risk identification and mitigation, disaster preparedness, resilient infrastructure and urban resilience. Prior to joining the World Bank in... Read More →

Dr. Kamil Kaloush

Chair, IRF Global Scientific Committee, FORTA Professor in Pavement Engineering, Arizona State University

Dr. Kaloush is a FORTA Professor of Pavement Engineering in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University. He is a registered Professional Engineer and has over 35 years of industrial and academic experience in pavement engineering. He... Read More →

Chris Sanders

Chair of IRF Road Safety Committee, Lindsay Transportation

Dr. Robert Jaffe

Chair of IRF ITS Committee, Consystec

Dr. Jaffe is an electrical and systems engineer with EE degrees from Cornell (BS) and Stanford (MS, PhD). After 13 years as a Research Staff Manager at IBM’s Research Division, in 1996 he founded Consensus Systems Technologies (“ConSysTec”) where he remains a principal. Dr... Read More →

Nina Elter

Chair, IRF Committee on Road User Charging, Senior Vice President, EROAD

Nina is considered a global expert in transportation funding. Her career spans more than 20 years working in the technology, trucking, tolling and fuel card sectors across Europe, the Americas and Australasia. Her experience includes leading and negotiating agreements at the highest... Read More →

Tuesday November 9, 2021 1:30pm - 3:00pm GMT+04
Main Stage

Main Stage

3:00pm GMT+04

Inspiring a Generation of Transportation Engineers

The closing keynote is an opportunity to think beyond our current framework to envisage a future where mankind cooperates to achieve what is seemingly impossible and exhibit to the world UAE’s achievements of going to Mars.

Speakers

Omran Sharaf

Project Director, Emirates Mission to Mars

Omran is Project Director of the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC). He and his team are responsible for developing, launching, and operating the Hope Probe, the spacecraft of the mission. Omran has worked on the project from its initial conception... Read More →

Tuesday November 9, 2021 3:00pm - 3:15pm GMT+04
Main Stage

Main Stage

3:15pm GMT+04

Roads to Tomorrow: a Vision to 2030

Speakers

Dr. William Sowell

Vice President-Cloudastructure, Inc., IRF Senior Vice Chairman

Tuesday November 9, 2021 3:15pm - 3:30pm GMT+04
Main Stage

Main Stage