On 10 February ERTICO, together with 33 partners, launched the EU funded CO-GISTICS project. CO-GISTICS is a deployment activity that will converge logistics with Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS). This is the first time that a European project is fully dedicated to deployment of cooperative services applied to logistics.
Piloting in 7 of Europe’s leading logistics centres (Arad, Bordeaux, Bilbao, Frankfurt, Thessaloniki, Trieste and Vigo), CO-GISTICS services will help make operation of goods, trucks, roads, ports, airports and rail terminals more sustainable and efficient. CO-GISTICS will target the needs of the freight industry taking into account the economic and environmental challenges of the public authorities, fleet operators, freight forwarders and terminal operators. CO-GISTICS will integrate existing freight and transport systems with innovative solutions such as cooperative services and intelligent cargo. These services will stay in use after the end of the project and will be further developed by logistic distribution hubs for their future deployment.
The deployment aspect is pivotal for future transport and urban mobility, and ERTICO has invested and is investing in this new type of deployment projects (such as Freilot and Compass4D). “This is another step forward to the deployment of cooperative systems we are leading in Europe. The ERTICO Partnership offers a perfect environment for the progress of these kinds of activities thanks also to its large and long-term expertise in European projects”. Dr Hermann Meyer, ERTICO CEO, stated in welcoming the project.
The success and strength of CO-GISTICS is within its consortium of 34 partners including leading companies in the field of freight and logistics. These, together with fleet operators, service providers and public authorities, will implement the following 5 services:
- Intelligent parking and delivery areas
- Multimodal cargo
- CO2 emission estimation and monitoring
- Priority and Speed advice at intersections
- Eco-drive support
The project was officially launched in Thessaloniki where 10 trucks and 100 cargo units will pilot aspects of the project looking at environmental performance and speed of delivery. Prof. George Giannopoulos, Director of HIT-CERTH, stated that “The Hellenic Institute of Transport of the Center for Research and Technology Hellas is committed to the promotion of research and deployment of smart infrastructures for the implementation of innovative mobility services, aiming to facilitate the daily life of the citizens and the productivity of the freight and logistics sector in Thessaloniki. CO-GISTICS is considered as a major milestone within the roadmap for establishing Thessaloniki as a Smart City”.
Thessaloniki has on its side all the partners needed for the accomplishment of the project: the Region of Central Macedonia, CERTH – Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, SEAWAY – a fleet operator, and Tredit – a company working on transport and traffic systems and logistics management.
Speaking at the press conference, Ms Tzelina Makrantonaki, Vice Governor of the Prefecture of Central Macedonia in International Outlook, Innovation and New Technologies confirmed that CO-GISTICS is fully in line with the Region’s innovation policies. “CO-GISTICS will contribute to increased sustainability of Thessaloniki’s mobility system, building upon a series of related activities and investment of the region in the recent years, such as Mobithess and Compass4D. The Region of Central Macedonia is highly committed to the deployment of viable technological solutions that will contribute to improved mobility conditions of the citizens as well as of increased competitiveness of commercial fleets”.
With 325 vehicles and a total budget of 7,492,000 Euros, CO-GISTICS is coordinated by ERTICO – ITS Europe and will run until 31 December 2016. In is co-financed by the European Commission through the CIP Programme.
In addition to ERTICO, CO-GISTICS partners are: AGUILA, ATOS, AUTAMAROCCHI, AZKAR, CEAGA, CERTH, City of Bilbao, City of Vigo, CTAG, DB SCHENKER, DHL, ETRA, FERNETTI Terminal, FRAPORT, GEOLOC, HERE, HOLM, ICOOR, IRU Projects, MLC, M3Systems, NOVACOM, PluService, Politecnico di Bari, Region of Central Macedonia, SAMER, SEAWAY, TEAMNET, TELVENT, T-SYSTEMS, TREDIT, Università degli Studi di Trieste, WEST EUROTRANS.
