The Intelligent Transportation and IoV Industry Development Summit Forum commences on Sept 6 in Wuxi. [Photo by Xu Yiyi/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Intelligent Transportation and IoV Industry Development Summit Forum commenced on Sept 6 in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, gathering over 300 industry leaders from home and abroad.

IoV, also known as the internet of vehicles, is the specific application of IoT technology in smart transportation.

This year's forum, themed around "Creating a new era for connected vehicles by 5G and smart technologies," discussed several pertinent issues, such as the safety of automated driving, the application of cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X), as well as the integration of IoT and smart transportation.

As an important component of the World Internet of Things (IoT) Expo, the forum has been held for four consecutive years in Wuxi's Binhu district since 2016.

Jens Koetz, senior director of Audi Connected Vehicles Research and Development, delivers a keynote speech during the forum. [Photo by Xu Yiyi/chinadaily.com.cn]

The national smart transportation test base in Binhu district, which has realized the application of LTE-V2X at the city-level, is the largest place for open testing of IoV at the city-level in China.

Jens Koetz, leader of the division of car connected services at Audi, showcased Audi’s latest achievements in C-V2X. As one of the founding members of the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), Audi has carried out research and development in IoV and automated driving.

It is expected that Audi will apply C-V2X technology in its vehicles that are selling on the market for the first time in 2020 or at the beginning of 2021, said Koetz.

Mike Litherland, chief strategy officer of Gabriel Enterprises, a firm focusing on industrial IoT information mediation, analytics and production management solutions, said 5G IoT and artificial intelligence have promoted the digital transformation of smart transportation.