I would like to provide an update to OmniAir members, partners, and transportation stakeholders on new and ongoing OmniAir Consortium activities, considering the COVID-19 pandemic.

The past weeks have been unusually challenging for many of us.  The Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak has reached nearly every corner of the world. With an unprecedented number of people confined to their homes, we are reminded of the fact that we are all in this together.

We applaud our members who are actively engaged in the fight against the virus in ways large and small.  From 3M accelerating production of protective equipment for healthcare workers, to GM and Ford’s converting automotive factories to produce ventilators, to many tolling agencies moving to all-electronic tolling for hygienic purposes.

In time, we hope to highlight many of the stories that demonstrate the resolve and resilience of our members and the broader transportation community.

OmniAir Consortium, for its part, remains committed to its core mission of promoting interoperability and certification for ITS, tolling, and connected vehicles.   Together with our members, we will continue to develop the necessary testing and certification programs to ensure that trusted communications devices are available for potentially-lifesaving V2X technologies.

As an organization, OmniAir is well-situated for operating in a virtual environment.  Our staff is highly distributed, so telework has long been our daily reality.  Likewise, OmniAir’s membership spans the globe. We routinely rely on virtual meeting and cloud services that allow our members to share knowledge and collaborate on developing testing and certification programs—wherever they might be.

OmniAir continues to press forward on several significant initiatives. If you find yourself newly working from home, and you have time to contribute to one of our many projects and working groups, we encourage you to do so.

In addition, we are taking immediate actions to ensure that our members, and the broader transportation community, will be able to continue to participate during this challenging time:

• Registration fees for OmniAir Lone Star Plugfest may be applied to the rescheduled event or to future certification testing fees;
• OmniAir is offering free location accuracy testing for members who have purchased OmniAir Lone Star Plugfest device testing tickets;
• OmniAir Monthly Membership calls for North America, Europe, and Asia, will be open to non-members for the remainder of 2020; and
• OmniAir is scheduling a series of free public webinars in the weeks and months to come, highlighting advances in testing and deployment programs for V2X, tolling, and ITS.

If there is anything else that we can do to help during this difficult period, please do not hesitate to ask me or another member of the OmniAir staff.

I would like to conclude by thanking each of you for your continued support of this organization, and for your help in advancing our shared mission.   Stay healthy, well and engaged during these challenging times.

Jason M. Conley
Executive Director
www.omniair.org

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