THE ROLE OF PIARC IN GLOBAL ROAD INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

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THE ROLE OF PIARC IN GLOBAL ROAD INFORMATION AND
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
C3 Technical Committee Chairman
Oscar de Buen Richkarday
Julio, 2001
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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

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PIARCS VISION

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

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PIARCS 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

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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

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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)

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TECHNICAL COMMITTEES

• 20 Technical Committees develop four year work
  programs and are grouped under 5 strategic theme
  topics
• Road Technology
• Road Transport, Liveability Sustainable
  Development
• Road Road Transport Operations
• Management Administration of the Road System
• Appropiate Levels of Road Road Transport
  Development

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PIARC TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TOOLS

• Technical committees,
• Special Fund,
• Seminar programme,
• Technology Transfer Centers
• WIN
• HDM4

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SPECIAL FUND

• It is designed to enable professionals from
  developing countries and countries in transition
  to participate in PIARCs 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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