Turning the European mobility data space into reality?

Mobility and transport data are key to developing a more sustainable and smarter system for transporting people and goods. Building a common European data space for mobility will facilitate the sharing and pooling of transport and mobility data and help ensure Europe’s competitiveness and data sovereignty.??

Highly autonomous vehicles and mobility apps are just some of the innovations that are making use of mobility and transport data. While accurate and real-time information is needed to improve and create mobility technologies of the future, much of the data that the mobility sector generates remain in silos, not easily accessible due to issues such as lack of standardisation and availability.?????

Initiatives such as the EU Data Strategy and the Digital Europe Programme are supporting the creation and implementation of the European mobility data space (EMDS). Most recently, specifics were laid out in the European Commission’s communication on creating a common European mobility data space on how to overcome technical and legal barriers and ensure trusted and secure data-sharing.??

The PrepDSpace4Mobility?project, of which EIT Urban Mobility has been a partner, was formed to lay the foundation for the creation of the EMDS. After 12 months of collaborative work, the project has published a report that not only supports the Commission’s strategy but also gives concrete proposals for possible pathways to the EMDS.

Drawing on stakeholder engagement, surveys, and consultations with over 500 individuals in addition to analysing EU reference architectures for federated data sharing such as the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA), Gaia-X and iSHARE, the report provides recommendations and building blocks for foundational principles, technical developments, and business and governance models crucial for a successful EMDS.??

To further understand current challenges and future opportunities of European mobility data spaces, EIT Urban Mobility, Factual, and i2CAT have recently published a report with a focus on private and public actors involved. By emphasising data as a strategic asset, it envisions enhanced road safety, alternative transportation modes, and advanced mobility services through secure and voluntary data sharing. Importantly, it lays down recommendations for companies, cities, and regions, as well as national and EU, to unlock the potential of mobility data spaces. ??

The advent of secure data sharing is poised to be a game-changer in daily commuting, influencing how individuals navigate their daily routines. Beyond individual impact, this approach empowers cities, industry players, and transport operators to refine resource planning through robust data analysis.

The assurance of secure data availability acts as a catalyst, amplifying the effectiveness of solutions such as Asistobe, Nommon, or Vianova among others. These innovative solutions continually advance, offering increasingly superior services and precise insights, reshaping the landscape of urban mobility:

• Asistobe is a software that allows public transport planners to explore how people travel, predict future mobility needs, optimise, and plan their entire public transport networks.?
• Nommon is a software that provides accurate, up-to-date, and complete origin-destination matrices from anonymised mobile network data.?
• Vianova Mobility Data is a software that enables users to access, integrate, and share accurate mobility real-time and historical data streams from a growing set of global cities.?

Visit our Mobility Innovation Marketplace to learn more about the findings of PrepDSpace4Mobility and the issues and challenges linked to the creation of the EMDS.??