18 April 2011: The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has entered into a partnership with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in the field of intelligent transport systems (ITS). The new Joint Task Force for ITS Communications is aimed at helping overcome some of the barriers to the large-scale deployment of ITS services and applications.

With current communications capabilities, motor vehicles have the potential to, among other things, foresee and avoid collisions, navigate the quickest route to their destination, minimize their carbon emissions and provide multimedia communications. However, the lack of global standards is regarded as a major impediment to the large-scale deployment of such services and applications. The new Joint Task Force is intended to help engineer better collaboration between overlapping sectors, such as automotive, ITS players, and telecoms suppliers and operators, and also to pool resources within the ITU and ISO, linking existing work and avoiding duplication. The ITU and ISO also welcome participation in the Joint Task Force by the national and regional standards bodies working in ITS and communications. [ITU Press Release]