THE ROLE OF PIARC IN GLOBAL ROAD INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Julio, 2001

Oscar de Buen Richkarday

C3 Technical Committee Chairman

WORLD ROAD ASSOCIATION (PIARC)

PIARC exists “To Exchange Knowledge and Techniques on Roads and Transportation”

It was founded in 1909. It is the oldest international association concerned with Road Engineering, Road Policy and the Management of Road Networks

It now has 97 Member Governments and more than 2000 members in 129 countries worldwide

PIARC´S VISION

“World leader in providing information on roads and road transport policy and practices within an integrated sustainable transport context”

PIARC´s means to serve its members: international forum for analysis and discussion of

road and transportation related issues

identifying and disseminating best practice

supporting activities in developing countries and countries in transition

developing efficient tools for decision making

PIARC´S VALUES

To provide universal quality service to its members

To be open, impartial and objective

To promote sustainable and sound economic solutions

To be customer driven

To recognize road transport in an integrated transport and land use context

To respect differing international road transport needs

To be a leader in technology transfer

WHAT IS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER FOR PIARC?

“The process of openly gaining and freely sharing information about our experiences, solutions, technologies, and innovations”

“In the road transport sector, as in any field, technology transfer can be a catalyst for accelerated economic, social and environmental development”

WHAT DOES PIARC DO TO TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY?

PIARC promotes sharing information about international best practice to serve all stakeholders in the road transport sector

To achieve this, PIARC: organizes its activities around specialized Technical

Committees

organizes quadriennial World Road Congresses and Winter Road Congresses

sponsors technical seminars and

publishes a large number of documents including a quarterly magazine (“Routes/Roads”)

TECHNICAL COMMITTEES

20 Technical Committees develop four year work programs and are grouped under 5 strategic theme topics:

1. Road Technology

2. Road Transport, Liveability & Sustainable Development

3. Road & Road Transport Operations

4. Management & Administration of the Road System

5. Appropiate Levels of Road & Road Transport Development

PIARC TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TOOLS

Technical committees,

Special Fund,

Seminar programme,

Technology Transfer Centers

WIN

HDM4

SPECIAL FUND

It is designed to enable professionals from developing countries and countries in transition to participate in PIARC´s activities and Technical Committee work

It must help to reflect the whole range of PIARC member governments in PIARC activities

The amount of the grant given is a function of GNP per capita

Only countries classified as “Low-income economies” and “Lower-middle-income economies” by the World Bank may benefit from the Special Fund

SEMINAR PROGRAMME

Each Technical Committee generally holds an average of two plenary meetings a year

All technical committees should arrange two meetings in developing or emerging countries before the XXII World Road Congress in Durban in 2003

It is recommended that Technical Committees organize joint meetings with other professional organizations such as OECD, TRB, PIH and so on

About 20 possible seminars are already in the program

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER CENTERS

In 1999, PIARC is Council passed a resolution to encourage the development of Technology Transfer Centers

At present, PIARC has proposed 3 pilot National Technology Transfer Centres and 8 countries have submitted expressions of interest

Technology Transfer Centers Activities: Maintain a reference library of key documents

Maintain Internet access

Maintain an up to date list of transport web-sites

Produce a regular newsletter

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER CENTERS

Maintain a list of transport sector training courses

Produce an annual report for the PIARC First Delegate

Prepare strategies for using various media for information exchange

Maintain independence from commercial interests and

Evaluate performance as a Technology Transfer Center

WORLD INTERCHANGE NETWORK (WIN)

WIN is a network of computer nodes at the service of the international road community

The basic concept of WIN consists in putting people with questions in touch with people with answers through an efficient information and knowledge interchange network

Nodes are the core of WIN

Using WIN is completely free of charge

HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (HDM4)

HDM4 is a software system for analyzing investment choices in road transport infrastructure

The system assists users in making choices about

Developing new roads

Improving existing roads

Maintaining existing roads

Introducing new vehicle technology

Introducing new ways for funding and managing road assets

PIARC has promoted HDM4 development with other organizations and now is supporting its worldwide dissemination and use

CONCLUSIONS

The information revolution makes understanding knowledge and development more urgent than before

New communication technologies and lower computing costs are shrinking distances and eroding borders and time

PIARC contributes to disseminate and share road related knowledge and helps to place it at the center of development policies