26-27 April 2022, London

Professor Phil Blythe FREng, CEng, FIET is Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) at Newcastle University and was Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Transport for six years until he stepped down at the end of May 2021. In his role at the DfT he provides a challenge function to the Department on the use of science and engineering evidence in policy making and also ensuring the Department is best informed on new innovations and technologies that may impact on the delivery of transport schemes. Through the CSA network he also ensures that there is significant cross-government cooperation on science, engineering and technology issues. Phil led on the science and evidence that guided how transport operated in the UK during the Covid Pandemic and the on-going recovery phase. Phil portfolio covers many strategic areas such intelligent transport, connected and autonomous vehicles, electro-mobility, smart cities/big data/digital twins; age friendly and accessible mobility; and the bringing together of the energy and transport systems to deliver on net zero transport. He is leading the thinking on Future Transport in the NE region and is a Vice President and Trustee of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

Isobel has recently joined as Head of the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. Previously, she has held several roles in the UK’s Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, including leading on delivery of air quality improvements, a programme to join up the delivery of housing and transport, airspace policy and regulatory delivery policy.

Professor Phil Blythe FREng, CEng, FIET is Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) at Newcastle University and was Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Transport for six years until he stepped down at the end of May 2021. In his role at the DfT he provides a challenge function to the Department on the use of science and engineering evidence in policy making and also ensuring the Department is best informed on new innovations and technologies that may impact on the delivery of transport schemes. Through the CSA network he also ensures that there is significant cross-government cooperation on science, engineering and technology issues. Phil led on the science and evidence that guided how transport operated in the UK during the Covid Pandemic and the on-going recovery phase. Phil portfolio covers many strategic areas such intelligent transport, connected and autonomous vehicles, electro-mobility, smart cities/big data/digital twins; age friendly and accessible mobility; and the bringing together of the energy and transport systems to deliver on net zero transport. He is leading the thinking on Future Transport in the NE region and is a Vice President and Trustee of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

Isobel has recently joined as Head of the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. Previously, she has held several roles in the UK’s Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, including leading on delivery of air quality improvements, a programme to join up the delivery of housing and transport, airspace policy and regulatory delivery policy.

David has over 30 years’ experience in General Insurance, roles including Chief Commercial Underwriter at one of AXA’s largest branches, Reinsurance Manager, Casualty Insurance Manager, Managing Director Claims and Managing Director Underwriting

David is very active in campaigning in a number of areas, particularly with regard to problems with claims farming and compensation culture. In 2018 he was recognised as Social Media Influencer of the year, and in 2019 he won both the Insurance Post Claims Achievement Award and was named Insurance Personality of the Year at the British Insurance Awards.

David leads AXA’s work on Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, including work with five Government backed Consortia (including Venturer, UK Autodrive and Flourish) and is Chair of the ABI Autonomous Driving Insurance Group and the ABI Motor Committee, Chair of the RISCAuthority, and is a Board Member of the Fire Protection Association.

He speaks regularly at conferences and other events in the UK and Europe on a variety of subjects including most recently the future of mobility, recycled parts, improving customer satisfaction, flooding and climate change. David has also appeared on Sky TV, BBC Breakfast TV, BBC and Channel 4 News, as well as Radio 4’s ‘Today’ Programme, being interviewed on topics varying from Compensation Culture to Business Crime.

David originally hails from Bristol (explaining his passion for Bristol Rovers!) but now lives in Suffolk with his wife Catherine and two sons Evan (15) & Ryan (13)

Gary Crockford is an Engineer and Civil Servant who has worked in electronics, electrical, telecommunications, information technology, research and policy.

Gary has over 30 years’ experience of planning, installing, maintaining and managing Intelligent Transport Solutions (ITS) such as Motorway Communication Systems, Enforcement Systems, CCTV and Traffic Signals. 

Gary has spent the last 4 years working on Cooperative ITS systems (C-ITS), managing the UK A2M2 connected corridor, leading the UK partnership in the ‘InterCor’ project and representing the UK on the C-Roads Platform

Jill is a technical leader with over 20 years' experience in intelligent transport systems, specialising in R&D, evaluation and strategy. She has published and presented over 50 papers and articles, and advised government and private clients in the UK, EU and US.

Jill is a recognised expert in connected and automated vehicles. She has supported Highways England, DfT and others with research and strategy and recently led connected vehicle data strategy research for DfT. 

Jill is also a national expert in strategic road network management systems, in particular smart motorways and ramp metering, and has led studies into future concept developments.

Gary Crockford is an Engineer and Civil Servant who has worked in electronics, electrical, telecommunications, information technology, research and policy.

Gary has over 30 years’ experience of planning, installing, maintaining and managing Intelligent Transport Solutions (ITS) such as Motorway Communication Systems, Enforcement Systems, CCTV and Traffic Signals. 

Gary has spent the last 4 years working on Cooperative ITS systems (C-ITS), managing the UK A2M2 connected corridor, leading the UK partnership in the ‘InterCor’ project and representing the UK on the C-Roads Platform

Jill is a technical leader with over 20 years' experience in intelligent transport systems, specialising in R&D, evaluation and strategy. She has published and presented over 50 papers and articles, and advised government and private clients in the UK, EU and US.

Jill is a recognised expert in connected and automated vehicles. She has supported Highways England, DfT and others with research and strategy and recently led connected vehicle data strategy research for DfT. 

Jill is also a national expert in strategic road network management systems, in particular smart motorways and ramp metering, and has led studies into future concept developments.

Gary Crockford is an Engineer and Civil Servant who has worked in electronics, electrical, telecommunications, information technology, research and policy.

Gary has over 30 years’ experience of planning, installing, maintaining and managing Intelligent Transport Solutions (ITS) such as Motorway Communication Systems, Enforcement Systems, CCTV and Traffic Signals. 

Gary has spent the last 4 years working on Cooperative ITS systems (C-ITS), managing the UK A2M2 connected corridor, leading the UK partnership in the ‘InterCor’ project and representing the UK on the C-Roads Platform

Prof. Nick Reed has worked at the cutting edge of transportation research for more than fifteen years. From early studies using driving simulators to examine driver behaviour, he has since been instrumental in connected and automated vehicle projects in the UK to the value of more than £50m, including leadership of the GATEway project in Greenwich and the creation of London's Smart Mobility Living Lab. Nick has since founded Reed Mobility – an independent expert consultancy on future mobility topics working across the public, private and academic sectors including projects for the European Commission, DfT, TfL, BSI and RSSB.

Suzy has worked in the field of road safety for 17 years. She started her road safety career at EuroRAP where she was the international programme manager and oversaw the establishment of iRAP. After that, she was Head of International Road Safety at TRL, before joining the Road Safety Foundation in 2017.

Suzy leads a thriving programme at the Road Safety Foundation including provision of support to Highways England for their iRAP Star Rating work, leadership of the Older Drivers Task Force, supporting local authorities with their iRAP programmes following on from DfT’s Safer Roads Fund, review of roads around RAF bases with US visiting forces and the annual Crash Risk Mapping work supported by Ageas Insurance. RSF also undertakes policy and research work including projects for ORR and research on urban road safety for the Road Safety Trust.

Stu McInroy joined the Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA) as Chief Executive in March 2018. With a membership comprising road marking contractors, material manufacturers and suppliers covering all areas of the United Kingdom, the RSMA is the largest specialist trade body in the highways sector and the internationally respected voice for the UK road marking industry; it is a key component of a safe and effective highways network.

Established in 1976 the RSMA has played, and continues to play, a pivotal role in supporting, training, assessing and representing companies and other organisations involved in or with an interest in, the road marking industry.

Stu has extensive experience of leading organisations providing training, assessment and certification and since leaving the Royal Air Force in 2009 where he gained a wealth of programme management, strategic policy, regulation & governance and leading-edge technology experience, he has represented membership organisations at the highest level in Commercial, Political and Public Sector environments across a wide variety of Government Departments, OGDs/Agencies and Industry.

Responsible to the RSMA membership through the RSMA Executive Committee, for all aspects of the Associations activities, Stu’s principle objective is to protect and promote the interests of RSMA members and achieve the RSMA vision: ‘Safer roads for all users’ through the RSMA mission: ‘Delivering safer roads through effective maintenance, skills and technology’.

Camilla is Head of Automated Transport at TRL and is focused on ensuring both the safe deployment of automated vehicles and ensuring safety during trials and testing.  Camilla is technically leading the remote operation and safety assurance work packages for project Endeavour as well as providing safety assurance for a number of automated vehicle trials in the UK, including the UK’s first real-world HGV platooning trial. 

Camilla has over 20 years’ experience in risk assessment, risk management and the development and implementation of control strategies and cost-effective solutions. She has a full understanding of safety management systems and workplace transport and has worked as an expert witness in this field. Camilla is keen to bring this proactive approach to road safety and ensure automated vehicles realise the projected safety benefits.

Dr Joanna White is the Acting Roads Development Divisional Director at Highways England leading a division focussed on environmental policy and standards, intelligent transport systems, energy and road design.

Following her PhD in Mathematics where she developed mathematical models for traffic networks, Jo started her career in 1999 at TRL working as a Researcher. One of her first projects was to demonstrate how mobile phone data could be used to produce information about movements on transport networks and undertook. 6 years later she joined the Highways Agency as a Senior ITS Engineer in the Traffic and Travel Systems Group.

She led the M42 Active Traffic Management Monitoring, investigated how smart motorways and ramp metering could operate together and set up the ITS Radar service. Jo was promoted in 2007 to the Team Leader of the Technology Programme Performance team, responsible for overseeing the Agency’s £250m Technology Programme. She took a couple of years out to have children (not concurrently thank goodness) and then changed roles in April 2012 to lead the National Operational Systems team in Traffic Technology Division, looking after all the systems that the Traffic Officers use to manage traffic and incidents.

In 2014 she returned to the standards and research part of the organisation leading the Intelligent Transport Systems group. She led teams who develop and maintain standards for operational technology, improve operational systems and research future vehicle technology. This included delivering successful connected and automated vehicle trials in collaboration with industry partners to inform the connected services roadmap, one of the elements of Highways England’s Digital Roads vision. In February 2020, she became a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Engineering and Technology. This has been an excellent foundation for her to step up to lead the Roads Development Division.

Ian is an established subject matter expert in the field of ITS, both within the UK and abroad having authored, contributed and presented papers at conferences at global events on a range of topic areas. With a proven track record of forming strong and collaborative relationships with both client and partner organisations, he is able to understand user needs, requirements and outcomes at the micro and macro levels to ensure solutions are appropriately developed and applied. As WSP’s capability lead for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) Ian provides the focal point for business development and project delivery within this important sector. Underpinning this role is his participation in a number of ITS technical groups, including ITS (UK) where Ian is the Vice Chair for the Connected Vehicles Forum (CVF).

Dr Joanna White is the Acting Roads Development Divisional Director at Highways England leading a division focussed on environmental policy and standards, intelligent transport systems, energy and road design.

Following her PhD in Mathematics where she developed mathematical models for traffic networks, Jo started her career in 1999 at TRL working as a Researcher. One of her first projects was to demonstrate how mobile phone data could be used to produce information about movements on transport networks and undertook. 6 years later she joined the Highways Agency as a Senior ITS Engineer in the Traffic and Travel Systems Group.

She led the M42 Active Traffic Management Monitoring, investigated how smart motorways and ramp metering could operate together and set up the ITS Radar service. Jo was promoted in 2007 to the Team Leader of the Technology Programme Performance team, responsible for overseeing the Agency’s £250m Technology Programme. She took a couple of years out to have children (not concurrently thank goodness) and then changed roles in April 2012 to lead the National Operational Systems team in Traffic Technology Division, looking after all the systems that the Traffic Officers use to manage traffic and incidents.

In 2014 she returned to the standards and research part of the organisation leading the Intelligent Transport Systems group. She led teams who develop and maintain standards for operational technology, improve operational systems and research future vehicle technology. This included delivering successful connected and automated vehicle trials in collaboration with industry partners to inform the connected services roadmap, one of the elements of Highways England’s Digital Roads vision. In February 2020, she became a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Engineering and Technology. This has been an excellent foundation for her to step up to lead the Roads Development Division.

Ian is an established subject matter expert in the field of ITS, both within the UK and abroad having authored, contributed and presented papers at conferences at global events on a range of topic areas. With a proven track record of forming strong and collaborative relationships with both client and partner organisations, he is able to understand user needs, requirements and outcomes at the micro and macro levels to ensure solutions are appropriately developed and applied. As WSP’s capability lead for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) Ian provides the focal point for business development and project delivery within this important sector. Underpinning this role is his participation in a number of ITS technical groups, including ITS (UK) where Ian is the Vice Chair for the Connected Vehicles Forum (CVF).

Dr Chris Harper is a Research Fellow in Robotics Safety & Control at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, researching methods and technologies for safety assurance of autonomous systems, machine learning and AI. For over 20 years Chris has worked in both industry and academia as a safety assurance specialist with experience in system/software hazard and safety analysis, safety cases and safety management, and has also been involved in development of international industry safety standards for robotics. His research interests include assurance methods, high integrity design, safety validation, and safety arguments/cases of autonomous systems. He has recently been working on the CCAV-funded R&D projects ROBOPILOT (autonomous parcel delivery) and CAV Forth (autonomous bus service).

Dr Chris Harper is a Research Fellow in Robotics Safety & Control at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, researching methods and technologies for safety assurance of autonomous systems, machine learning and AI. For over 20 years Chris has worked in both industry and academia as a safety assurance specialist with experience in system/software hazard and safety analysis, safety cases and safety management, and has also been involved in development of international industry safety standards for robotics. His research interests include assurance methods, high integrity design, safety validation, and safety arguments/cases of autonomous systems. He has recently been working on the CCAV-funded R&D projects ROBOPILOT (autonomous parcel delivery) and CAV Forth (autonomous bus service).