Some 250 companies and organizations, including automakers and electronics manufacturers, are scheduled to showcase their intelligent transport systems (ITS) when the 11th World Congress on ITS kicks off in Nagoya on Monday.

The goal of ITS is to reduce traffic concerns such as pollution, congestion and accidents by networking vehicles and onroad facilities. Application of the technologies will produce 108 trillion yen in economic effects, according to one estimate.

Before ITS can solve all our road woes, however, many hurdles need to be overcome, including the standardization of data transmission methods and the lowering of development costs.

At the weeklong international conference--the first to be held in Japan since 1995 in Yokohama--automakers will focus on technologies that enhance safe driving.

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to unveil a driver-support system that, using a car navigation system, automatically applies the brakes when the vehicle approaches an intersection should the driver not heed audio and visual warnings.

Yasumori Ihara, Toyota's managing officer in charge of planning and sales of ITS, says it is rare for an automaker to make public a technology that is still in its developmental stages, an indication of the strong emphasis the automaker places on safety.

Aisin Seiki Co., a major autoparts maker affiliated with Toyota, plans to demonstrate a system that alerts drivers about obstacles and approaching vehicles at intersections using an onboard videocamera and an inter-vehicle wireless data communication system.

Honda Motor Co., meanwhile, will showcase its ASV IT Scooter, a concept model equipped with an accident prediction and prevention system. An inter-vehicle communication function enables the system to exchange information with other vehicles to gauge their proximity and warns the rider if a collision appears imminent.

Consumer electronic appliance makers expect the widespread introduction of ITS will create a range of business opportunities that will boost sales of Internet-connected home appliances, which are expected to eventually be linked to ITS functions.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. group plans to reveal a system that enables drivers to operate by remote control air conditioners and gate lamps at their homes by hooking up the vehicles to their digital home appliances over the Internet.

Zenrin Co., a provider of map data for use in car navigation software,

and its subsidiaries are developing ITS services that include sending information about restaurants and parking lots near a vehicle to a device onboard.

Still, before ITS can be broadly applied, a number of obstacles must first be circumvented, analysts say.

One conspicuous problem is the lack of coordination on the development of technical infrastructure.

Wireless communications for ITS-related devices are based on a number of different technologies, including wireless local area network (LAN) technology and dedicated short range communications (DSRC) used in Japan's electronic toll collection system.

The technologies were developed for various purposes and fall under the jurisdiction of different government ministries and agencies. As a result, there has been little coordination between the technologies in the research and development stages.

Analysts say coordinating government and private-sector efforts is integral to enhancing convenience and lowering costs.(IHT/Asahi: October 16,2004) (10/16)