CCAM 9th GA – Important changes in the Association

22 May was a busy day for the CCAM Association and its members, hosting its 9th General Assembly in a hybrid format in Brussels and online.

After Armin Gräter welcomed all the participants, the meeting kicked off with the endorsement of 16 members, strengthening the Association’s ranks and bringing their knowledge and energy to CCAM research. As of today, the total number of CCAM Association members is 230.

After presenting the past, ongoing, and upcoming activities of the CCAM Association, members were invited to vote on the amendments to the Association’s statutes. The amendments were approved by the majority. This was followed by the elections of the Administration Board, the Executive Group, and the Partnership Delegates.

Some new representatives were elected:

• Cluster 4 “Integrating CCAM into the transport system” welcomed its new co-leader, Julian Schindler, from DLR, replacing Johanna Tzanidaki. We would like to take the opportunity to say our thanks to Johanna for her significant contribution to the Cluster work.

• Evangelos Bekiaris (CERTH) for the position of Partnership Delegate for the member category “Research institutes, R&D providers”.
• Thorsten Möginger (Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund Servicegesellschaft) for the position of Partnership Delegate for the member category “Mobility providers for the transport of passengers”.
• As an observer, Frank Niggemeier-Oliva (Bahnen der Stadt Monheim) for the position of Partnership Delegate for the member category “Public transport operators”.

After three successful years as the Chairman of CCAM Association, Armin Gräter’s term of office was coming to an end. He will soon go on a well deserved retirement. He will be succeeded by Christian Merkt from BMW. We bid a heartfelt farewell to Armin, who was instrumental in establishing the CCAM Partnership and contributed his extensive expertise and knowledge in vehicle automation, helping to make the Association the success it is today. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours. At the same time, we are delighted to welcome our new Chairman, Christian Merkt.

The afternoon session was focused on evaluating the three-year work of the CCAM Partnership and discussing its future. The departing colleagues shared their insights gained from the past three years and their vision for the future, emphasising safety, collaboration, openness to newcomers, and inclusion of user needs.

Margriet Van Schijndel, CCAM Cluster 5 leader, organised an open fishbowl session to discuss the outcomes of TRA2024 and the EUCAD Symposium 2024 in Dublin. The main points to consider are:

• Continuously questioning (WHY, WHAT) the reasons behind our efforts to future-proof the European road mobility system and identifying the driving forces.
• Ensuring that the societal aspect is taken into account when working on technology.
• Being adaptable in a constantly changing world.
• Upholding trust as a fundamental value in all our endeavours.
• Avoiding isolated thinking and action, as road mobility is interconnected with a larger system.

To end the meeting, some inputs were received for the future Work Programme 2025:

• Elisabeth Shi from BASt Germany presented BASt’s and UNECE approach to remote management;
• Suzanna Kraak from DG RTD, European Commission informed about the societal readiness pilots planned for WP25.