Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council, Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) will hold the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport and honour winners of the Dubai World Self-Driving Transport Challenge on October 15, 2019 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). 

“Hosting the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport and the accompanying exhibition, for the first time in the Middle East, is part of RTA’s efforts to support the Dubai Self-Driving Transport Strategy unleashed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The strategy aims to make 25% of all trips in Dubai smart and driverless by 2030. It also enhances the leading role of Dubai in the self-driving transport field,” said HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA. 

Dubai Congress

“The Congress is shaping into an all-inclusive global platform for self-driving transport that brings together top experts, policymakers, technology developers, researchers and academia. Global leaders of technology and innovation will exchange ideas and proposals about connected and self-driving vehicles. The event aims to raise public awareness about the latest technologies and future trends of transportation and identify potential impact on investments and different transport strategies. The 2-day gathering will host more than 80 global experts including 5 key speakers, and hold 40 lectures and 39 workshops. An exhibition will also be held on the sideline of the congress where 50 specialist companies will showcase the latest technologies of the industry,” added Al Tayer. 

Dubai Challenge

“During the congress, RTA will honour winners of Dubai World Self-Driving Transport Challenge, the first of its kind in the world and the most sophisticated across the industry. The challenge attracted 65 global firms and academic institutions.  5 leading firms qualified for final tests namely: Navya, EasyMile and Gaussin from France, Westfield in the UK, and 2getthere from the Netherlands. Three start-ups made their way to the finals: Sensible4 from Finland, Derq from the UAE, and IAuto from Taiwan. Three global universities were selected: Freie Universität Berlin from Germany, Intelligent Systems Lab (LSI) from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain and University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Qualified local universities included Dubai University, UAE University, Al Ain University of Science and Technology, and Abu Dhabi University. 

Timeline 

In February 2018, the challenge was announced, and in October 2018, qualifiers for Phase II were announced. In February 2019, Phase II started and in March, tests started at Dubai Silicon Oasis. From April to June this year, a team made overseas visits to assess start-ups and academia. In July, qualifiers arrived in Dubai to collect geographical data about test tracks and draw maps, and in August vehicle tests started on the challenge route. Tests included stopping at bus stops, emergency stop, overtaking a bike, and dealing with various traffic scenarios such as signals, pedestrian crossing, road works, sand on road, negotiating a roundabout, handling of humps, rains and high-speed turns. 

Platform

Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport is a global platform for leading companies, universities and research centres to carry out self-driving scenarios and applications in Dubai. It supports the expansion of using self-driving transport in various modes and encourages firms and institutions to cope with the existing challenges such as the use of public transport, and the first and last-mile challenge. 

5 Million

The Challenge has prizemoney amounting to USD $5.2 million dollars for wining companies, start-ups as well as local and international universities. USD $3 million are set for mega-companies, USD $1.5m for start-ups, and USD $600,000 for universities. Winners were selected by a team of international experts in the field of smart mobility according to a host of technical standards.

Standards

Nominees were assessed on certain parameters including the status, credibility, vision, skills and relevant experience of the entity. They were then divided into categories according to their performance in tests covering 6 key standards and 18 subsidiary standards. Key standards covered the operation plan, tolerance and reliability, sustainability and energy, customer experience, safety and security, and dealing with road users.