VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd and ITS Russia have signed a partnership agreement concerning the development of intelligent transport systems (ITS). The objective of Project CAVLANE is to develop new services, products and standards for border crossings in particular. Businesses from all over Europe are hoped to join the partnership.



CAVLANE is linked to an initiative of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade to create a roadmap for transport solutions that support automated driving as well as to the Autonet-2 scientific and technical initiative. "The goal is to promote automated driving and therefore to prepare for the advent of robotic cars with varying degrees of autonomy. VTT has a long history of developing the reliability and safety of autonomous cars", says Executive Vice President, Erja Turunen from VTT.



New intelligent services increase road safety, improve logistics, boost businesses' competitiveness and create markets for new innovations.



The project involves, for example, testing ITS services for drivers before and after border crossings, such as queue cautions that are hoped to make traffic flow more smoothly at the Nuijamaa border crossing point and standardised EU V2V warning messages.



New partnerships and business opportunities



Project CAVLANE has already helped to network a host of Finnish organisations and businesses. VTT is in charge of coordinating the national business consortium, which currently consists of Indagon, Nokia, Vediafi, Dynniq and Infotripla. "We are looking for Finnish businesses in particular to join the partnership, but we also welcome ITS expert from other countries", says Project Manager Lasse Nykänen from VTT. There is also a similar business consortium in Russia, which is coordinated by ITS Russia.



The Finnish Transport Safety Agency's TrafficLab and the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications launched a project aimed at enabling new transport services for cross-border transport in May. "The starting point is to promote cross-border cooperation with Russia or other Nordic countries. The aim is to begin testing new transport services through a business-led approach", explains Director General of Data and Knowledge Juha Kenraali from the Finnish Transport Safety Agency. VTT is also in charge of a project launched by TrafficLab in May, which involves testing digital transport services in arctic conditions and offering seed money to businesses.



"Automated driving, which will become a reality at the beginning of the next decade, has turned smart mobility solutions and services into a growth industry. Our role in the project is to test new intelligent, accurate and reliable online driver assistance systems, as the business around these kinds of devices is growing at a rate of more than six per cent per year globally", explains CEO Matti Lankinen from Indagon Ltd.



Finland as an ITS gateway to China



The aim is to link CAVLANE to an ITS route sponsored by the Russian Government, which would begin from the biggest cities in Finland and run via Helsinki to Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan and China.



"Building an ITS and logistics route from Finland via Russia to the Far East is extremely important both economically and in terms of transport, and we want to promote its implementation together with businesses and various stakeholders. At its best, the route can act as a platform for collaboration that benefits everyone involved in the global transport and logistics revolution", says Senior Adviser Seppo Öörni from the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications.



Photo: Vladimir V Kryuchkov, CEO of ITS Russia, and Erja Turunen, EVP, Smart Industry and Energy Systems from VTT, signed the partnership agreement in Espoo in June.