Friday, 12th June 2009 - 17:25

ITS United Kingdom and ITS Canada work together to support women in the Intelligent Transport Systems sector

ITS United Kingdom, the UK’s society for all who work in Intelligent Transport Systems, was kindly invited by ITS Canada to hold a meeting of the ITS (UK) Women in ITS (WITS) group alongside the Canadians' annual conference in Edmonton in May.
The WITS is open to everybody with an interest of promoting the recruitment and retention of women in the ITS sector and has several members in Canada, which led to the proposal to hold this meeting.
Nearly thirty people attended the meeting with Susan Spencer, Director of ITS at Transport Canada, being the most senior.
It is Susan’s view that, at a minimum, the WITS provides an excellent opportunity for women to share experiences and for networking. As to the point whether there are specific women’s issues that the group could consider, Susan observed at the meeting that there is a recognized shortfall of women in the transport field, and that statistics show, overall, that there is a lack of young people choosing transportation as a profession. She suggested that there may be an important role for WITS in promoting ITS as an exciting field for young women to consider particularly as technological innovation is no longer reliant on ‘heavy industry’ skill requirements.
ITS United Kingdom was represented by Neal Skelton, Head of Professional Services, who will report back from the Canadian chapter of the WITS when the UK chapter next meets.

Ends

Picture shows Attendees at the meeting of Women in ITS in Edmonton, Canada.

ENQUIRIES:
For further information, please contact:
Jennie Martin
ITS (UK) Tel:
+44(0)20 7709 3003
Email:
mailbox@its-uk.org.uk

Notes to editors:
ITS UNITED KINGDOM, the UK association for the promotion of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), is a not-for-profit public/private sector association financed by members' subscriptions, and provides a forum for all organisations concerned with ITS. We work to bring the benefits that ITS can offer in terms of economic efficiency, transport safety, and environmental benefits to the United Kingdom - and at the same time expand the ITS market.
The membership, over 160 UK organisations, comprises Government Departments, Local Authorities, Police Forces, consultants, manufacturing and service companies, and academic and research institutions.
Members benefit from ITS United Kingdom activities including seminars, workshops and regular news dissemination. ITS United Kingdom encourages discussion on issues such as public/private co-operation, standards, legislation, information provision and new technology.