Press release, 25 April 2014
The eCall, based on 112 a pilot system developed in the EC Project pilot HeERO, is a system that provides an automated information message and voice connection to the emergency services call centre following a severe incident, which includes the precise incident location. It was presented during the International Conference “ITS, eCall and RoadSafety” on the 25th of April 2014 in Athens, Greece.
The Conference was held at the Greek Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks and was co-organised by the Greek Ministry, the European Commission and ERTICO-ITS Europe, the coordinator of the EC project HeERO. The event was organized in the context of the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the participation of the Ministry in the HeERO pilot project that concerns deployment of eCall in Europe.
The Conference opened with the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks, Mr. Michalis Papadopoulos, welcome speech. An array of high level key note speakers representing various policy, public and research stakeholders took part in the discussions. Among them were Nino Zambara, EC DG CONNECT official; Michael Papadopoulos, Greek Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transport & Networks; Andy Rooke, Senior Project Manager HeERO at ERTICO – ITS Europe, Dr. Petros Mamalis, Chair of the Technical Harmonization WP Permanent Representation of Greece to the European Union, Mr. Demetrios Pyrros, Chair of EENA Advisory Board, Dr. Angelos Amditis, Research Director ICCS and President of ITS Hellas; and Dr. Georgia Ayfantopoulou, Principle Researcher, CERTH/HIT.
The Conference focused on the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), their application on road safety and especially the eCall system. During the Conference, the Greek eCall pilot system was demonstrated, which is a tangible example of the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) that in the last decade have become a key issue for the improvement of transport systems in terms of safety and efficiency.
The eCall video with English subtitles can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bq52eFCUhc
All the relevant videos of the eCall system can be found at the following links:
1. Spot 53’’: https://vimeo.com/93343073
2. Spot 53’’ (English Subs): https://vimeo.com/93073626
3. Video 7’ 27’’: https://vimeo.com/93343074
4. Video 7’ 25’’ (English Subs): https://vimeo.com/93079667
Note to the editor:
About HeERO
HeERO addresses the pan-European in-vehicle emergency call service “eCall” based on 112, the common European Emergency number. For three years (January 2011 to December 2013), the 9 European countries forming the HeERO 1 consortium (Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden) carried out the start-up of an interoperable and harmonised in-vehicle emergency call system. The second phase of the HeERO project – HeERO 2 – started on 1st January 2013 and will last 2 years. 6 new countries (namely Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Luxemburg, Spain and Turkey) have joined the other 9 pilot sites of HeERO 1. Furthermore, other countries became associate partners, a status allowing them to benefit from the expertise of HeERO 1 and 2 but not granting them access to EC funding.
The HeERO consortium is currently testing and validating in real conditions pilots the common European eCall standards defined and approved by the European Standardisation Bodies. The project is partially funded by the European Commission under the ICT PSP programme.
In Greece the HeERO project activities are implemented by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transports and Networks of the Hellenic Republic with the active support by the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems which is its technical advisor on all issues relevant to eCall implementation.
In the Greek pilot site 1446 eCalls have already been realised in Attiki and Thessaloniki regions, using all mobile networks of Greece and indicating a good system performance. Interoperability tests with other countries have been also conducted, while eCalls with the Call flag activated are also planned in the coming months.
The Ministry of Infrastructure, Transports and Networks is also supported by its subcontractors, G4S Telematix S.A. who provided the PSAP solution, and by the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas / Hellenic Institute of Transport and the National and Technical University of Athens/MFOL as regards the evaluation activities.
About eCall
eCall is an electronic road safety system which automatically calls the emergency services in case of a serious accident, even if the driver and passengers are unconscious. As soon as the eCall sensors register a severe impact on the car during an accident, it automatically dials 112 emergency and calls to the nearest emergency centre. The call transmits the exact geographic location of the accident scene and other data. eCalls can also be made manually by car occupants, thus enabling them to provide the call centre with additional details of the accident.
Getting immediate information about an accident and pinpointing the exact location of the crash site cut emergency services’ response time by 50% in rural and 40% in urban areas. Thanks to this gain in time, eCall is expected to save several hundred lives in the European Union each year, and to mitigate the severity of tens of thousands of injuries. Road accidents cost the EU around €160 billion/year, but if all cars were equipped with the eCall system, up to €20 billion could be saved annually. eCall will work all over the European Union, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The Russian Federation is developing a similar accident notification system called ERA GLONASS. It is based on the eCall standards. The EU and Russia work together to make eCall and ERA GLONASS interoperable so that eCall will work in Russia and ERA GLONASS in the EU.
http://www.imobilitysupport.eu/working-groups/emergency-call-ecall
About iMobility Support
iMobility Support, a EC support action, fosters the deployment of intelligent mobility in Europe by organising the iMobility Forum activities, including stakeholder networking, deployment support, awareness raising and dissemination of results of ICT for smart, safe and clean mobility.
iMobility Supports fosters the deployment of intelligent mobility in Europe by organising iMobility Forum activities, including – but not limited to – stakeholder networking, deployment support, awareness raising and dissemination results.
The action is conceptually structured on three ‘pillars’: Support to the iMobility Forum constituencies and activities; support to the deployment of ICT for smart, safe and clean mobility (mainly cooperative ITS), and support to awareness-raising and dissemination of results activities of ICT for smart, safe and clean mobility (mainly cooperative ITS).
Press contacts:
Andy Rooke
HeERO Project Coordinator
Senior Project Manager
ERTICO – ITS Europe
Tel: 0032 02 400 07 80
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Lina Konstantinopoulou
Senior Project Manager
ERTICO – ITS Europe
Tel: 0032 02 400 07 49
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Maria De Rycke
Communication Manager
ERTICO – ITS Europe
Tel: 0032 02 400 07 40
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About ERTICO – ITS Europe
ERTICO – ITS Europe is a multi-sector, public/private partnership pursuing the development and deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS). We connect public authorities, industry players, infrastructure operators, users, national ITS associations and other organisations together and work to bring “Intelligence into Mobility”.
The ERTICO work programme focuses on initiatives to improve transport safety, security and network efficiency whilst taking into account measures to reduce environmental impact. ERTICO’s vision is of a future transport system working towards zero accidents, zero delays and fully informed people, where services are affordable and seamless, the environment is protected, privacy is respected and security is provide.
Last modified on Wednesday, 07 May 2014
