Welcome
In 2009 we established the FISITA World Automotive Summit as a means to bring together the leaders of the automotive industry with policy-makers and influential thinkers, to work on issues of major importance to the future of our industry. Our first Summit tackled CO2 reduction from road transport and led to FISITA becoming a participant in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Following the 2010 Summit, which tackled global traffic safety, FISITA became a participant in WHO's Global Road Safety Collaboration.
This year, as we celebrate 125 years of the automobile, the FISITA World Automotive Summit will consider what the future holds for personal mobility itself, especially in the context of an increasingly urban, resource-constrained world. According to the UN, 3 in 5 of us will live in cities by 2030; many in so-called "megacities" of more than 10 million inhabitants. This global shift towards an urban way of life, combined with rapid and relentless advances in information and communications technologies will have the most profound effect on why and how we move in the decades to come.
For our 2011 World Automotive Summit we will ask:
- What is a megacity? What is really shaping urban development around the world? What are the points of similarity and difference between cities in Europe, Asia and the Americas?
- What are the driving forces behind future demand for personal mobility? How are factors like behavioural change and social networking affecting the mobility choices of generation Y?
- How can technology help us to overcome the barriers to personal mobility in an urban, resource-constrained future?
- How can we re-invent the automobile to be sufficiently green, smart, connected and fun to drive in order to flourish in the 21st century?
As ever, we have invited some of the world's most creative thinkers to inspire and challenge us. The Summit is a working meeting, not a conference. It is also an opportunity to interact with 100 carefully selected colleagues who shape our industry, and to catch up with customers, suppliers and technology partners in a uniquely relaxed and informal setting.
J. E. Robertson
FISITA President
