The words of resilience, sustainability, automation and new mobility were amongst the most heard during the first ever Virtual ITS Congress, held on 9 and 10 November. Over 600 mobility experts including many ERTICO Partners joined the 20+ virtual sessions with great enthusiasm. Many of these discussions covered current ERTCO activities and priorities for a safer, smarter and greener mobility. Here is a summary of the themes on show at the ERTICO Innovation stand in the virtual exhibition and sessions.
Digitalising logistics
The digitalisation of logistics was a hot topic heavily discussed for the impact and potential it holds. FENIX project coordinator Eusebiu Catana from ERTICO moderated a session entirely dedicated to the architecture for logistics information exchange, featuring representatives from the European Commission’s DG MOVE, ERTICO Partners Rijkswaterstaat (Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management), Pionira and SWARCO. FENIX was also introduced in the framework of digitalisation as means to tackle climate change, in the session “Freight transport’s answer to the climate crisis and the European Green Deal”, moderated by ERTICO’s Zeljko Jeftic and with the participation of ERTICO Partners PTV, Pionira and AKKA Technologies. “We need to look more at electrification and automation, which are factors that can surely make transport greener, and one thing that is going to connect all these elements is digitalisation, which is going to help us optimise all of the transport on the logistics side. FENIX is pushing forward this work”, said Zeljko Jeftic.
At the ERTICO Innovation stand, COREALIS presented its strategic and innovative framework, supported by disruptive technologies, including Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, next generation traffic management and emerging 5G networks for cargo ports to optimise port operations, increase efficiency and reduce environmental footprints. The newly launched project 5G-LOGINNOV, which uses 5G technology to optimise ports operations, presented its ambitions to develop and deploy next generation ports and logistics hubs operation system architecture using 5G networks at three main ports in Europe: Athens (GR), Hamburg (DE) and Kopper (SL).
Preparing for automation with 5G and dynamic mapping
Another trending theme was dedicated to 5G and autonomous driving. In this framework, ERTICO showcased the European-funded project 5G-MOBIX and the recently-launched 5GMETA. Visitors learned about the 5G cross-border trials tested in 5G-MOBIX and how car-captured data can be monetised to stimulate new products and services with 5G-META.
In addition to being presented at the stand, activities on dynamic mapping with TN-ITS were covered in the Highlight Session “Public-private cooperation for Safety on the Road” by TN-ITS president, Christian Kleine from HERE. The discussion focused on cooperation between the public and private mobility stakeholders on different safety schemes. The cooperation between public authorities and map providers in TN-ITS is an important step towards reliable digital maps, seen that TN-ITS trusted data can support safety application such us ISA and UVAR.
Bringing automation to the next level
Discussions on automation are always exciting, especially if their technologies are deployed in real-life demonstrations. This is the case for SHOW and CONCORDA working especially in urban environments. SHOW is supporting sustainable urban transport through technical solutions, business models by deploying shared, connected, electrified fleets of automated vehicles in coordinated Public Transport, Demand Responsive Transport, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and Logistics as a Service (LaaS) operational chains in real-life urban demonstrations all across Europe. CONCORDA and ENSEMBLE (which working on multi-brand truck platooning) were presented during the session “High-density truck platooning and highway chauffeur in real-life environments” highlighting the activities support to the process of introduction of advanced automated driving capabilities in passenger vehicles and trucks. The panel of the session included representatives from ERTICO Partners Qualcomm, TNO and Rijkswaterstaat.
Sustainable solutions for urban mobility
Sustainability and urban mobility are important parts of ERTICO work, as shown by the activities presented at the stand in this specific area. Nearly one year in its activities, the international flagship project SOLUTIONSplus has been already gathering the consensus of many cities and progressed in demonstrating the benefits of shared, public and commercial e-mobility solutions to transitioning towards low-carbon urban mobility. Entering the last six months of operations, C-MobILE presented the latest achievements and a demonstration showing interoperability of some of its services in the different deployment sites across Europe.
Traffic Management was an important highlight of the Congress, especially on its future development and integration with new mobility services. ERTICO Platform TM2.0 hosted four different sessions including on roadwork information with TomTom, inclusion of drones in airspace with Toulouse Metropole and VVA, and mobility network management with interactive traffic management and MaaS with SWARCO, Pluservice and BE-MOBILE.
Sharing knowledge on smart mobility
ERTICO believes that deployment of smart mobility goes hand in hand with supporting mobility leaders and professionals in sharing knowledge and experience on best practices. This is why these two activities, ERTICO Academy and City Moonshot, have now a central role in ERTICO work.
If you didn’t registered for the Congress, but would like to access the sessions recordings and content library, you can still register here. The Virtual Exhibition will remain accessible, with the content download functionality, until 11 December.
