The 2022 Transport Research Arena (TRA) Conference, held in Lisbon from 14-17 November, promoted transport research and innovative technology solutions. With a programme at the very heart of what ERTICO does, the Conference provided a great opportunity to contribute to the discussion on the development and deployment of smart mobility. Throughout the Conference week, ERTICO CEO, Joost Vantomme and the team participated in many lively interactions with consortium members of represented EU projects.
Under the themes of Smart Solutions and Society, Green Mobility and Decarbonisation, Innovative Infrastructure for Europe 2030, and Policies and Economics for a Competitive Europe, interesting sessions and exchanges were held in the exhibition hall and the conference arena. On the first day, Joost VANTOMME, ERTICO CEO, presented ERTICO’s view of ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Smart and Sustainable Mobility‘. Questions on how to best use AI in combination with other systems were raised during the discussion, and Mr Vantomme emphasised how we can leverage a joint approach towards AI. His presentation highlighted the need for Europe to continue moving forward and to keep connecting the dots between AI and transport solutions. Notably, Mr Vantomme pointed out that there are several barriers that we are facing today, but also emerging challenges regarding the technological aspects, including data strategy, maturity of AI solutions for safe deployment and development of standards for interoperability, to list a few.
ERTICO & Project Consortium Members presents during the Conference
As one of Europe’s largest research and technology conferences on transport and mobility, TRA offered a great opportunity for our Partnership Projects and their consortium members to present the latest updates of each activity and discuss future priorities. Amongst many, three projects from ERTICO’s ‘Clean & Eco Mobility’ focus area, namely MODALES, eCharge4Drivers and SOLUTIONSplus, were showcased during the Conference.
The MODALES project was presented by Andrew Winder, Senior Manager at ERTICO and the MODALES Project Coordinator, at the joint Invited Session ‘Reduction of transport impact on air quality‘, which discussed the results of MODALES and similar EU-funded projects and their work to reduce emissions.
The eCharge4Drivers project also participated in the joint Session on ‘User-centric and smart charging solutions for future-proof electromobility’, organised by coordinator ICCS. Two of its papers were presented during the event, one on ‘E-driver, what about your charging infrastructure? A large-scale European study on charging habits, perceptions, concerns and expectations’ and the second covering ‘Development of Smart Charging Scheduling and Power Management Strategy of a PV-ESS based Multiuser EV Charging Station’. The project also had a joint exhibition booth at the European Commission stand where visitors could learn more about the project mission and its sister projects: USER-CHI & INCIT-EV.
SOLUTIONSplus was presented at 3 different Sessions at TRA: ‘Accelerate Innovation Market Uptake for Sustainable Transport’, ‘International dimensions of European competitiveness and technology leadership’, and ‘International Cooperation on Transforming Urban Mobility’.
SINFONICA, one of the newest ERTICO projects under the CCAM focus area, was represented by ICOOR’s Giulia Renzi at the Invited Session “Making CCAM a smart solution for society”, together with other EU-funded projects.
5G-LOGINNOV project, one of the key innovative initiatives belonging to the transport and logistics focus area, was present at TRA within the ALICE stand. On Monday 14, at the ALICE’s innovation theatre, ICOOR expert Michela Appruzzese led a seminar to present the audience 5G-LOGINNOV business models and market opportunities.
FENIX was the second project belonging to ERTICO’s transport, and logistics focus area that was present at the TRA at the ALICE stand, next to 5G-LOGINNOV. On Wednesday 16, a session dedicated to the presentation of FENIX’s main features and achievements took place. Project partners took the opportunity to discuss the next steps and the best way to exploit the project’s results, as the project is due to end next February.
SHOW is currently at the peak of its pilot sites deployment to enhance automated urban mobility across Europe. The TRA conference represented an opportunity for consortium members to gather and present the project’s progress. SHOW coordinator, UITP, had dedicated space to the project on its stand, where the recently launched dashboard and video simulations were displayed.
Several sessions delved into core topics for the projects, including CCAM, Automated Mobility and Urban, Demand-Responsive Transport (DTR) or sustainable, smart mobility, and international collaboration. Dr Nikolaos Tsampieris, senior manager at ERTICO and SHOW dissemination leader, had a slot at the European Commission stand to present the project.
After a very productive presence at the NAPCORE Mobility Data Days in Paris, some TN-ITS members travelled to Lisbon to continue spreading the word about the ERTICO multi-stakeholder innovation platform. Stephen T’Siobbel, TN-ITS standardisation expert, presented a paper on the findings of the TN-ITS GO project and its contribution to advancing the maintenance of digital maps for ITS with authoritative data. Christian Kleine, TN-ITS president, participated in a session organised by NAPCORE, highlighting the challenge of maintaining digital maps and how the platform enhances the exchange of authoritative spatial road data. Mr T’Siobbel rated the participation as fruitful, reporting that they ‘created more visibility of TN-ITS in the European (research) community.”
STORM, whose full title is ‘smart freight transport and logistics research methodologies’, is one of ERTICO’s projects within the freight and logistics focus area. The official completion date of the project is June 2023, and the consortium is eager to showcase all the achievements since its kick-off. During the TRA days, several project partners presented the results obtained to date in various sessions. Other consortium members, including Yancho Todorov, project coordinator, also introduced the project at the ALICE booth.
