TISA General Assembly report

Date: 29 July 2010

The Traveller Information Services Association -TISA held its General Assembly and Committee meetings in the headquarters of the TISA member WDR, in Cologne, Germany, on 22 and 23 June 2010.

During the Content and Services Committee meeting, Thomas Kusche, WDR Senior Editor, was elected as the new Chairman. Lázsló Hechenast, TrafficNav, was appointed as Deputy Chairman. The C&S Committee has now both public service and commercial service interests firmly represented in the new team!

Jonathan Burr stepped down from the C&S Committee Chair as he had requested when he took up the TISA Presidency in 2009-December. Bev Marks, Executive Director said: “The whole membership is most grateful for the direction Jonathan has given to the C&S Committee - he hands over a very active Committee.”

The Committee meetings and elections were followed by the TISA General Assembly on 23 June. The new Working Group and Task Force structure was announced which will more closely reflect the work programme that TISA plans to undertake in the coming months.

Following discussions in the last six months it became clear that TISA had to adjust the structure to match the market driven needs of the membership, as the Travel Information Services market matures.

The General Assembly also confirmed the strategic liaison agreements with WorldDMB, ISO TC 204 WG10 and the RDS forum.

These liaison agreements involve exchanges of working documents, invitations to meetings and opportunities to review and comment the ongoing development, in the best mutual interest.

Finally, the General Assembly was a nice opportunity to welcome the 13 organisations who applied for TISA membership during the first 6 months of 2010. TISA worldwide membership has steadily grown to 103 members to date and is widely represented across the whole value chain of the Traffic and Traveller Information Services.