Strategic Sessions

Monday, 16th April 2018; 15:00 – 16:30

Strategic Session 1.1 – User-Centric Mobility Systems

The transport sector has to shape the new mobility landscape, build up and share a vision for Europe. This session will focus on the required changes to provide adequate mobility systems (MS) for local and transnational travellers. Thus far, local MS have been organised by regional public authorities from a city-centered perspective, covering mostly urban areas and providing seamless stop-to-stop services. Increasingly “connected” travellers, new digital travel services and mobility provider disrupt the current system and demand suitable MS. For transnational and Europe-wide travel, air or rail services have been offered only as monomodal systems, with the exception of services offered by travel agencies. The EU, EC, various Member States/regional/local actors and new stakeholders need to provide new door-to-door mobility services for travellers with diverse requirements.

Strategic Session 1.2 – Towards a Truly Integrated Transport System

A truly integrated transport system needs to be established to respond to the major challenges of decarbonisation, pollution and congestion, while addressing societal needs and the demands of the industry. A successful integration requires not only a smooth operation of the different transport modes individually, but also a shared vision of a customer-centric transport system as a whole, including new or changed business models, innovative IT tools, smart and coordinated interoperability as well as proper integration of services to be provided to users (people and industry). Therefore, a wide variety of stakeholders, transport industry and users need to be involved to contribute pieces to a system of systems that can be used and operated in a seamless, efficient and sustainable way. In this session attendees will: address urban and long distance transport system integration, hear from different stakeholders and discuss options with panellists and policy makers.

Strategic Session 1.3 – Innovative Governance Enabling Sustainable Urban Mobility

Cities want to provide citizens with transport services that meet their mobility needs in an inclusive, fair, accessible, and flexible way. Yet, local policy makers also want their cities to be pleasant, attractive and healthy places to live, work and be in. This requires tackling a number of severe transport-related societal challenges, such as congestion, air and noise pollution and safety, which pose a threat to the same citizens’ health and well-being, and the overall quality of life. This session tries to reconcile the needs of today’s connected traveller, who wants flexibility, with the sometimes drastic measures needed to address the aforementioned challenges. It will discuss the potential of emerging technologies and mobility services, the required new forms of cooperation between public and private stakeholders, as well as the appropriate regulatory frameworks to enhance innovation and avoid disruption.

Tuesday, 17th April 2018; 13:15 – 14:45

Strategic Session 2.1 – New Digital Technologies Impacting Transport

Thanks to increased digitalisation and enhanced connectivity both freight and passenger transport will be transformed by 2025. Although their level of digitalisation significantly differs, different transport modes use, to a certain extent, the same ICT technologies. The transfer of best practice among sectors, today relatively limited, can improve uniformity and lead to a faster uptake of innovation.

Within this context, the aim of the session is to identify, across transport modes, common opportunities (e.g. related to big data) as well as coherent use of ICT tools (e.g. blockchain). The discussion will be guided by questions which the panellists will be asked to reply to aiming at cross fertilisation and at an increased transfer of best practice.

Strategic Session 2.2 – Safe and Efficient Transport through Connectivity and Automation

Automated and connected transport is expected to be driven by potentially positive impacts on the transportation system’s safety and efficiency. Automated and connected transport systems will need to balance individual initiatives and decisions with integrated centralised control systems. In this session strategic drivers and research priorities are considered, to identify the challenges, opportunities and unique selling points towards achieving a safe, efficient and integrated transport system for passengers and freight through connectivity and automation. The economic viability and social acceptance of technological and regulatory solutions, the extent of concrete benefits that are expected as a result and to which extent the mixed use of transport infrastructures can be achieved, will be discussed.

Strategic Session 2.3 – Transport and Data Security in a Digital Era

The advances in connectivity, big data and artificial intelligence are driving the development of increasingly connected and automated systems. The resulting transfer of responsibility from human intervention to artificial intelligence can reduce human error as the main cause of accidents and increase efficiencies. At the same time, new challenges arise to secure the future multimodal transport system and all of its (mode specific) elements. The increasing flow of big data and the public’s interest in ensuring its safe and secure use, while avoiding new monopolies and access restrictions, will require significant governance, standardisation and new rules to enable both competition and data protection. This session will bring together relevant actors from public authorities, transport and ICT industry to discuss potential solutions and future challenges, individual data privacy rights and the ownership of mobility data and outline possible future joint-actions, notably in research and innovation, of transport and telecoms industry as well as all public authorities and users to ensure synergies and impart best practices.

Wednesday, 18th April 2018; 13:15 – 14:45

Strategic Session 3.1 – Decarbonisation for a Competitive European Industry

This session will host speakers from research and industry to debate challenges of decarbonisation and energy efficiency and potential solutions, including the benefits of new fuels and technologies. An important element will be the increased uptake of electrically-powered and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, in particular in the passenger road and rail segment. There will also be particular challenges to be addressed in the decarbonisation of the aviation and marine industries. Investments and development of new skills will be needed and the cost-effective development of such a wide array of energy sources and associated propulsion technologies and vehicle concepts will depend on economies of scale and potentially require standardisation and new regulations. The session will cover these aspects in particular, the research needs in these areas and the strategic steps which need to be taken to get there.

Strategic Session 3.2 – Optimising Logistics – Environmental and Economic Benefits

Logistics is a key sector for Europe as per its contribution to the GDP, being the single biggest industry sector in the EU. The European Commission has committed to a 60% Green House Gas emissions reduction target, compared to the 1990 levels, to be reached by 2050. Concerning the freight transport and logistics sector, similar targets have been set. The session reflects on how Green House Gas emissions and energy consumption could be reduced through improved logistics while saving costs at the same time and if more efficient processes combined with technology improvements could make the energy, GHG emissions and congestion reduction targets attainable. Furthermore, opportunities of the digitalisation to optimise logistics and the new physical internet paradigm implementation will have consequential beneficial impacts on society that will also be addressed.

Strategic Session 3.3 – Infrastructure and Decarbonised Transport

This strategic session will highlight the fact that both renewable energy and recycle and reuse will be key factors for the decarbonisation of infrastructure and transport. Bearing in mind that implementation of new technologies is fostered by adequate business models, green procurement systems or intelligent road pricing, this session will cover four topics:

1. Energy supply, harvesting and storage
2. Green public procurement
3. Upgrading, recycling and maintenance
4. Business models and financing

As decarbonisation truly is a cross-modal issue, almost all transport modes will be represented to show either their mode specific approach or even co-operations for a cross-modal approach. The above mentioned topics will be covered in paired presentations demonstrating both the public and private perspective.

Thursday, 19th April 2018; 10:15 – 11:45

Strategic Session 4.1 – Enabling and Implementing Research and Innovation Strategies

The session will gather representatives of all transport-related ETPs (ERTRAC, ERRAC, WATERBORNE, ACARE, ALICE, ECTP) and PPPs (S2R, HFC, EGVIA, SESAR, CS) to present their views on future research programmes and approaches to strengthen their coherence between modal and systemic strategies, discuss continuity and synergies of different funding programmes (e.g. FP and CEF), ways to improve the dissemination of research information, and ensure maximization of the impact of EU projects in society. The panel conversation will also consider the enhancement of the dialog between researchers and business/industrial stakeholders in order to ensure smoother deployment of results and improve citizen involvement and public understanding of research and innovation initiatives.

Strategic Session 4.2 – European Transport Research in a Competitive World

Global transport challenges benefit from global solutions. With most of future transport growth occurring outside of Europe, access to knowledge and to new markets will become increasingly important.

This session will provide an overview of international research and innovation cooperation opportunities in transport, based on current experiences from the EU’s Horizon 2020 program, its International Flagship initiatives and related policy actions. Furthermore, it will provide a chance to comparatively discus other similar transport research programs. This session will also present key success stories of ongoing international research and innovation transport cooperation activities and discuss the necessary steps forward. Multilateral exchanges with international key partners on transport R&I strategies, policies and investment priorities will also be discussed. Finally, the session will also examine possible future transport research and innovation opportunities for cooperation with third countries.

Strategic Session 4.3 – Skills and Professions for Future Transport

The current and forthcoming changes in the transport sector will have a profound impact on the transport related jobs: some will disappear, others will change significantly, and new jobs will emerge. This will require new competences – and hence also an adaptation of the education and training provision for the transport sector.

This session includes a presentation on the expected changes in transport jobs, the associated changing skill requirements and the challenges for the education and training provision in the transport sector. It is followed by presentations on various innovative approaches in different countries, for different transport modes. These examples illustrate some of the challenges ahead but also how they might be addressed.