Canada / Belgium – The NFI Group, a parent of several bus and coach brands based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, announced that it has joined the Information Technology for Public Transport (“ITxPT”) Association, a non-profit organisation based in Brussels, Belgium. The association aims to widen the interoperability between IT systems in the public transportation sector in the European and North American markets. 

ITxPT members aim to create an “open architecture” for IT systems based on a consistent set of standards and industry best practices. In other words, the association wants to ensure that information technologies developed by different companies for the public transportation sector – for example, telematics and cloud-based platforms – are able to work with each other. It does so by providing suppliers with specifications for designing ITxPT-compliant equipment and services. The association certifies compliant products which are then listed in its catalogue. Other members of ITxPT include Iveco Bus, MAN Truck & Bus, and Volvo Buses.