Specialist UJ division focuses on urgent research priorities

World-class transport and supply chain research is imperative in any developing economy, says Rose Luke, senior researcher: Institute of Transport and Logistics at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) (Africa) was created in 2007 in response to an overwhelming need for independent, unbiased, relevant and upto- date research in the fields of transport, logistics and supply chain management. “The researchers in the Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management at UJ acknowledged the gap and ITLS (Africa) was established as a specific research entity within the department to provide specialist high-level research services for both the private and public sectors, focusing on the most urgent research priorities in the country,” says Luke. ITLS (Africa) is also working in close collaboration with Liege University in Belgium to provide logistics management courses to selected students through Teta. The sessions conducted to date have included hosting talks by Prof David Hensher of the University of Sydney on choice analysis and by Barry Saxton, author of Rock the Boat. ITLS (Africa) is due to host the 12th conference in the highly acclaimed THREDBO conference series on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport in 2011. ITLS (Africa)’s own inaugural conference will be held in 2009. The first issue of the electronic Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management was published by ITLS (Africa) in November 2007 and, following its success, the second edition of this annual academic journal will be published at the end of 2008. The journal can be viewed on http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ ejour_jtscm.html