The final conference of the study on ‘Big Data and B2B platforms: the next big opportunity for Europe’, commissioned by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) on behalf of the European Commission was organised online on 26 November. It took place in the context of the European Commission’s publication of the proposal of the Data Governance act, which includes the first set of measures to be announced as part of the 2020 European Data Strategy.
The consortium behind the study includes ERTICO Partners ICCS and TNO as well as Wavestone, CEPS, KOMIS and Grimaldi Studio Legale. They shared the main results of the two technical pilots that were developed to enhance data sharing, focusing on the key sectors of automotive and healthcare. A main objective of the event was to discuss with experts and the audience on the analysis of regulatory barriers, market deficiencies and policy recommendations that were carried out in the study, and identify what is needed for the EU to tap into the full potential of big data in the fields of 1) cooperative, connected, and automated mobility, and 2) data-based health services.
Dr. Stephane Dreher, Senior Manager Innovation & Deployment at ERTICO-ITS Europe, participating on the expert panel on behalf of ERTICO said, ‘Data sharing is essential in mobility as it can enhance existing services and enable the development of new, innovative, more personalized, accurate and efficient services. It can allow players in the field to enter new markets, thus advancing the capabilities of European industry and increasing its competitiveness. Data needs not only to be available but also accessible to smaller players, including SMEs and Startups which have a strong innovation potential.’
ERTICO is involved in several initiatives related to data sharing and data exchange interfaces and hosts eight self-funded deployment oriented innovation platforms working on data interfaces and formats. The TN-ITS project connects Public Authorities with map service providers for map updates. The TISA platform focuses on the provision of dynamic data to vehicles. SENSORIS concentrates on the interface for sensor data from the vehicle to the cloud service provider. ADASIS for in-vehicle map data and eMi3 on the interoperability of eMobility services. ERTICO also hosts two concept based platforms that work on governance aspects, business models and brings partners from the private and public sector to work together: TM 2.0, enabling vehicle interaction with Traffic Management, and the MaaS Alliance, creating the enablers for the successful deployment of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solutions.
With this diversity of platforms and scope for data sharing, ERTICO has a good overview of the complexities of the landscape and the varying interests of these. It is essential to respect the needs of all stakeholders and facilitate the dialogue to achieve consensus. Data sharing must be carried out on a voluntary basis and following the appropriate business agreements in a win-win situation for both parties. It should not harm the business, privacy, security, liability of any party or create safety risks. Platforms facilitating data sharing or any approach to data sharing should respect these principles. As a multi-sector organisation, ERTICO can help bridge the gap and facilitate cooperation in sharing the data they require with contractual agreements agreeable to both sides.
A term that illustrates the best approach for data sharing is ‘co-opetition’, which is linked to the work of the TM 2.0 Innovation Platform on interactive traffic management, and denotes the combination of cooperation and competition among traditionally competing stakeholders. It illustrates how stakeholders and the various parties can respect the need to make a business profit but at the same time work in alignment towards common goals for the public good. In TM 2.0, it is the public authorities that act as the orchestrators setting these common goals, agreed following dialogue and cooperation.
TM 2.0 focusses on interactive traffic management for stakeholders throughout the entire traffic management procedure value chain. The concept is that the traffic information service provider provides vehicle information according to traffic management plans for a route that is optimized at the network level. The varying traffic information service providers are competing in terms of business, but are cooperating in terms of agreements with the Public Authority. The providers can still compete at a higher level on the quality of the service or on value added services. This approach enables the creation of a win-win-win context: a first win for the service provider, a second win for the user of the mobility system or driver and a third win for the city administration or authority, achieving a greater all round benefit for the citizen.
For MaaS, the existence of commercial agreements is also a crucial requirement, between operators, and among transport operators and providers for the sale and resale of transport services. As highlighted in the vision paper on data from the MaaS Alliance ‘Data makes MaaS happen’, data sharing and exchange models should be designed between partners to be fair and to fit for purpose.
In relation to Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) there is still work to do to facilitate data sharing. The ARCADE support action funded by the European Commission and coordinated by ERTICO has for example been looking into improving the sharing of data from R&I testing and piloting activities. The major part of the budget in R&I projects is generally dedicated to data collection. The absence of proper description or the use of non-standardized formats makes further analysis or reuse of the data after the end of the project difficult and costly. Another important factor for data sharing frameworks is trust. The participants in a project must trust the organization responsible for data collection regarding in particular GDPR, IPR and ethical usage. The CCAM Partnership, in which ERTICO is actively participating, is defining future R&I actions regarding these aspects in the frame of the development of the Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda.
The EASME study policy recommendations thus rightfully put emphasis on the importance to raise awareness about data sharing challenges and provide guidelines. In the ARCADE project, one of the tasks is dedicated to data sharing and a dedicated section is available for the CCAM stakeholder community in the online Knowledge base[1]. Sharing methodologies, best practices and lessons learned is essential to help new projects and initiatives in preparing properly for the handling of the data at the level of research and it should be the same at a broader level.
More details on the study can be found here dedicated webpage https://www.ceps.eu/ceps-events/big-data-and-b2b-platforms/
[1] https://knowledge-base.connectedautomateddriving.eu/data-sharing/
