5GAA Announces New Executive Director, Americas
John F. Kwant will lead 5GAA’s U.S. activities as the trade association’s first Executive Director, Americas
Washington DC, March 28th – The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) has announced the appointment of John F. Kwant as the organization’s inaugural Executive Director, Americas. In this new role, he will serve as the principal spokesperson for 5GAA in the United States while developing and executing a public policy and communications strategy to advance the safe and timely deployment of Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (“C-V2X”) technology.
“John is a well-known and respected thought leader and advocate for connected technology deployment, so we are thrilled to have him lead 5GAA’s efforts to facilitate connected mobility in the United States. John’s appointment as Executive Director, Americas signals how far 5GAA has progressed in recent years, and the creation of this position is a natural next step in shaping the new era of mobility and paving the way towards connected driving,” said Christoph Voigt, chairman of the 5GAA Board. “His extensive advocacy experience and knowledge of the connected mobility landscape make him uniquely suited to navigate public policy issues, build relationships, and drive 5GAA’s message in the Americas.”

Prior to joining 5GAA, John spent more than 20 years with the Ford Motor Company, holding various global business, strategy, and government relations roles in Dearborn, Washington, D.C., and Shanghai. Most recently, he was Ford’s Global Director of Mobility and Advanced Technologies, leading global advocacy for autonomous and connected vehicles and mobility solutions. In this role, he was instrumental in establishing 5GAA’s U.S. Policy Taskforce, serving as its Chair for several years.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated that 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021, a 10.5 percent increase from 2020. Many of these incidents could be avoided with the broad deployment of roadway safety technologies like C-V2X. NHTSA has previously estimated that safety applications enabled by V2X could eliminate or mitigate the severity of more than 80 percent of light vehicle crashes.
“With the right policies in place, C-V2X technology will deliver significant safety benefits and would likely help to reverse the rising number of roadway fatalities on our roadways. I believe we’re at an inflection point, with broad public and private sector consensus that now is the time to deploy,” said Kwant. “I am thrilled to be working with recognized leaders in the automotive, telecommunications, and technology industries towards broadscale deployment of C-V2X solutions.”
Kwant is a native Michigander with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. He also holds both a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Engineering Management degree from Northwestern University.
About 5GAA
The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) is a global, cross-industry organization of over 130 members made of leading global automakers, Tier-1 suppliers, mobile operators, semiconductor companies, and test equipment vendors. It works together to develop end-to-end solutions for future mobility and transport services. 5GAA is committed to helping define and develop the next generation of connected mobility, automated vehicle, and intelligent transport solutions based on C-V2X. For more information, visit our website www.5gaa.org.
5GAA to hold a session at ITS America Conference & Expo 2023
5GAA to hold a session at ITS America Conference & Expo 2023 in Texas.
ITS America is a premier event that brings together decision-makers and their supporting teams from public and private sector transportation agencies to learn about the implementation of new technologies and solutions that will enable a safer, greener, and smarter transportation system, at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Dallas, Texas, April 24-27, 2023.
ITS America Conference & Expo allows the smart mobility community to come together to explore the deployment of intelligent transportation technologies that saves lives, improves mobility, promotes sustainability, and increases efficiency and productivity.
The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) is proud to be a Partner in the event, bringing together key actors of the mobility ecosystem and leading the field of connected mobility. 5GAA is thrilled to attend this 2023 edition, having the opportunity to discover innovative technology advances and network again with mobile and tech industry influencers.
In this edition, 5GAA will be holding a session on connected mobility.
See the Programme and Schedule of the 5GAA session here.
For more information, please contact marcom@5gaa.org
Accelerate the understanding and adoption of VRU protection services enabled by C-V2X
The 5GAA work item VRU-PRO aims to increase our understanding of the implementations of Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) use cases based on recommendations highlighted in 5GAA’s VRU White Paper published in 2020.
During a set of activities carried out between 2020 and 2021, participating 5GAA members were divided in groups, which focused on targeted proof-of-concepts, demos and deployment activities. The outcome of these activities demonstrated how diverse approaches using V2X can increase safety for pedestrian, roadworkers, cyclists, e-bikes, mopeds, e-scooters and other powered two-wheelers. The learnings acquired are already feeding concrete plans to scale up deployment in different parts of the world.
5GAA’s next steps on VRU will focus on large-scale demos on interoperability of VRU solutions and applications, and in-depth studies on VRU Awareness Messaging (VAM) and Personal Safety Messaging (PSM) standardisation.
Find out the rest on this 5GAA Technical Report.
5GAA and partners discuss C-V2X mass-market deployment in The Hague
On February 9, to conclude its first meeting week of 2023, the 5G Automotive Association held a workshop on “C-V2X Mass Market Deployment in Real-Life Traffic”. Over two sessions, speakers examined connected mobility for road management in The Netherlands and Flanders and the benefits of connected mobility services for end-users.
Continuing a tradition established last year in Atlanta (US) and Málaga (Spain), the 5G Automotive Association capped off its meeting week in The Hague —the first of four to be held in 2023 — with a workshop for members and guests.
The workshop, which took place on the morning of February 9 at the Marriott Hotel in the Dutch capital, gathered delegates and partners for two different sessions featuring representatives from member organisations, public stakeholders, and road operators. 5GAA Director General Johannes Springer was responsible for welcoming attendees, while Vice Chair Uwe Puetzschler delivered the closing speech with an outlook of what is coming for 5G-V2X.
During the first session, participants got an overview of the Netherlands’ and Flanders’ Connected Mobility Roadmaps from Wim Vandenberghe, Senior Advisor for ITS and CCAM at the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, and Erika Decorte, Program Manager at the Flanders Authority for Roads and Traffic. Menno Malta, CEO of Monotch, wrapped up the session by delving into the C-ITS ecosystem deployment and architecture.
The second session, on the other hand, explored how end-users are leveraging connecting mobility services. René Spaan, Project Leader for Smart Mobility in the City of Helmond (Netherlands, presented use cases in urban settings. Participants also got to learn more about C-V2X services for emergency vehicles thanks to Gerard Berendschot, Manager of Quality and Policy at the Netherlands’ Ambulance Care. Finally, 5GAA delegate Andreas Schaller, Head of V2X Technology at Bosch, introduced the audience to the wrong-way driving application.
After the workshop, the 5GAA Board hosted a close-door roundtable with nine road operators, who received a presentation about the association’s new C-V2X roadmap and engaged in some interactive discussions to dive into their priorities, needs, and expectations. This roundtable followed on 5GAA’s recent release of its “Conclusions and Recommendations for Communications Service Providers Supporting Road Operator Priorities and Expectations”, available here, and a technical report on “Road Operator Use Case Modelling and Analysis.”
5GAA in Málaga: Symposium & Live Demos
In October 2022, sixteen members of the 5G Automotive Association gathered at the DEKRA facilities in Málaga to showcase ready-to-deploy C-V2X technology and what the future has in store for connected and automated mobility. Prominent members and partners of the 5GAA including 5GCroCo, Anritsu, Autotalks, Commsignia, Continental, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Keysight, Molex, Nokia, Rohde & Schwarz, Stellantis, Vodafone and Omniair demonstrated the current state of C-V2X and a wide range of applications for VRU (Vulnerable Road Users) protection, through a range of indoor and outdoor demos. The over 200 attendees included road operators, journalists from national and international media, and 5GAA delegates.
Use Case Implementations for Sensor Data Sharing
This report presents the Use Case Implementation Descriptions (UCIDs), for the three sensor data sharing use cases introduced in the Use Case Description Technical Reports Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, as well as shown on the C-V2X Roadmap.
Find out the rest on this 5GAA Technical Report.
5GAA to participate in the Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2023
The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) will again join the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (MWC), the largest and most influential yearly event in the field of connectivity, taking place between February 27 and March 2. This event will gather tens of thousands of high-level executives coming from the most relevant global tech companies in the world, representatives from international governments and members of emerging business that are revolutionising the connectivity scene worldwide.
This year’s edition will approach some of the hottest topics in the technological horizon, putting its focus on the subjects surrounding the furthest developments of 5G, 6G and immersive technology. Having amassed more than 60,000 attendees last year, MWC expects to surpass these numbers with the selected topics for the 2023 edition.
5GAA plans not only to attend the MWC with the objective to discuss the innovations taking place in the field of cellular-based connectivity, but also to actively participate in the Congress by welcoming visitors and partners at our booth and hosting a Press Tour that will allow attendees to get a better idea of our members’ advancements in C-V2X technologies.
- 5GAA BOOTH AT THE SHOW FLOOR
The 5GAA booth will allow for attendees to learn more about our association works and activities, as well as benefits for members. This booth will be located in Hall 2C55 and remain active all throughout the duration of the congress, from Monday, February 27, to Thursday, March 2.
- 5GAA’S PRESS TOUR
On February 27 from 8:45 to 10:00 AM (CET), 5GAA will host its Press Tour. Starting in our booth at the show floor, this tour will be the perfect opportunity for journalists to explore our members’ booths and find out more about their market innovations and developments. The tour includes scheduled visits to Qualcomm, Vodafone, Ericson and Rhode & Schwarz, amongst other of our association members. This Press Tour will also grant participants the chance to ask our members’ representatives any questions they may have.
Don’t miss out on this year’s Congress. Buy your pass for MWCB 2023 here.
Road Operator Use Case Modelling and Analysis
The 5GAA work item BRIDGE aims to determine how Communications Service Providers (CSPs) can support the C-ITS/V2X expectation of Road Operators in the near future to encourage and accelerate the deployment of C-ITS use cases on the road.
Following on from a series of discussions with European Road Operator strategists, a set of four exemplary C-ITS use cases was identified with a view to understanding what might be required from CSPs to achieve the above-mentioned objective. Additionally, a set of possible network requirements were defined and short-listed. Modelling showed that all of the use cases can be delivered on existing mobile networks today, assuming network coverage is sufficient for Road Operator requirements.
Find out the rest on this 5GAA Technical Report.
Conclusions and Recommendations for Communications Service Providers Supporting Road Operator Priorities and Expectations
The BRIDGE cross-Working Group work item (XWI) was established under the 5GAA ‘Digital Roads’ priority area. The concept of digital roads includes many elements, but BRIDGE addresses the business priorities of the Road Operators (RO) and how Co-operative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) and Vehicle to Everything (V2X) services, provided by Communications Service Providers (CSP), can support them directly.
The BRIDGE work item obtained high-level guidance on the expectations and priorities of Road Operators. The Road Operator representatives that participated offered their views on the importance or priority of the business areas to their organisation and indicated which individual use cases were of interest. After a number of individual discussions, the BRIDGE team compiled a summary of the results, which are presented in this report.
C-V2X Use Cases and Service Level Requirements — Volume III
The present report contains the third volume (Volume III) of 5GAA WG1 agreed use case (UC) descriptions for Use Cases developed within the 5GAA and consolidated in WG1. The results and conclusions of this report, and of the future use case descriptions and related communication requirements, are intended to serve as input for the work of other WGs in 5GAA, as well as sources for input and feedback to standardization activities, e.g., in 3GPP.
Read the full report here.