The International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 1974,[1] comprising currently 78 member nations[2] and 266 corporate or individual affiliate members,[3] aiming to encourage the use of the subsurface for the benefit of public, environment and sustainable development, and to promote advances in planning, design, construction, maintenance and safety of tunnels and underground space.
With 8 categories, this competition aims to identify the most important ongoing underground works and technologies that help cities change and enable habits and ways of life to evolve in order to build smart and sustainable urban areas.
[19] ITACUS is one of four permanent committees of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, with the mandate to reach out to policy leaders, NGOs and interrelated disciplines.
[20] ITACUS presents at worldwide congresses, seminar and workshops to create awareness of the undergrounds potential but also to foster the integration into the urban fabric through planning and applied uses.
[22] The aim of ITAtech is to provide a platform for engineers, manufacturers, contractors and suppliers to draw global experience and expertise together for the benefit of the whole industry, and to find ways of supporting the introduction of new techniques and products by collaborating on the development of design and performance criteria and preparing application of best-practice guidelines.
[5] The ITAtech activity groups (AG) include all processes related to underground construction such as Data Management, Excavation, Linning, Support &Waterproofing and Design.