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| Future of World Congress raises concerns.
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12/10/04 |
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Concerns are rising at the future of the ITS World Congress as news of falling attendance figures in Nagoya and an apparent shortage of cash for next year's event in San Francisco begin to emerge.
Senior sources within the industry, who have asked not to be named, have said advance bookings for the 2004 event are considerably down on those for Madrid in 2003. They also point to the difficulties facing the Americans next year as they attempt to meet the costs of hosting the World Congress in the face of budgetary cuts from their main sponsors, the US DOT. A decision by the Federal government has resulted in funds being switched away from the US DOT and applied to Homeland Security. Pressure on the organisers is likely to be all the greater since the US authorities continue to insist they will host the ITS World Congress and their own national ITS event, within five months of each other.
Meanwhile, in London, organisers of the 2006 Congress have announced more details of the event and put on show the official logo.
Over a thousand technical papers are expected to be delivered to around 6,000 visitors at the ExCeL Centre in the Docklands Area of London close to the City Airport. A call for papers is not, however, expected to be called for until later next year. Refusing to be drawn on the issue of Nagoya or San Francisco, Alan Carter of the UK's ITS World Congress Steering Group Carter said that London's arrangements were still at an early stage of their development but he was confident of ultimate success.
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