Digitalisation, especially of information flows, is a necessary and essential step to further develop inland navigation and to further strengthen its attractiveness and competitiveness vis-à-vis other modes of transport.
An essential component of the digitalisation of inland navigation and a prerequisite for a successful digital transformation is the availability of digitalised inland waterways supported and operated by the waterway operators. The digital infrastructure of inland waterways should support the digital transition of business processes in inland navigation and provide users with the necessary harmonised and standardised services on a European level.
The aim of the project is to develop a master plan including a roadmap for the development and implementation of the digitalisation of inland navigation. The purpose is to improve navigation support, traffic and transport management and logistics processes. The master plan is being drawn up for the five countries France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria. The master plan is intended to ensure, on the one hand, that the necessary measures for the implementation of the digitalisation of inland navigation are advanced at both national and international level and, on the other hand, that appropriate financial resources are made available for this purpose (primarily through EU funding programmes). An essential criterion for the success of the project is the general acceptance of the master plan by the European Commission and the national project commissioners.
Further information is available on the project website: www.masterplandiwa.eu
Partners
- Austria (viadonau)
- Belgium (De VlaamseWaterweg)
- Germany (Federal Wateways and Shipping Administration)
- France (Voiesnavigables de France)
- Netherlands (Rijkswaterstaat)
News and project status
In 2019, all relevant project basics (work programme, consortium agreement, stakeholder engagement plan, dissemination plan) were developed and risk and opportunity management were carried out.
The year 2020 was marked by the Covid 19 pandemic and resource problems of individual project partners. As a result, work on the content could not begin in spring as planned, and the official start of the project had to be postponed until January 2021. A project extension of one year was prepared and submitted in order to be able to guarantee the necessary processing period.
In addition, all five studies on the topic of technological developments and all four studies on the topic of facilitators were completed.
The focus is now on developing a master plan. The master plan should, on the one hand, ensure that the necessary measures for the implementation of the digitalisation of inland navigation are pushed forward both on a national and international level and, on the other hand, that corresponding financial resources are made available for this (primarily through EU funding programmes). An essential criterion for the success of the project is the general acceptance of the master plan by the European Commission and the national project commissioners.
A draft already exists. This is open to the public and feedback is requested: Masterplan published – DIWA (masterplandiwa.eu)
The project makes a substantial contribution to the implementation of measure
09. Develop River Information Services further of the Action Programme for the Danube 2022.