Data Sharing for urban mobility

The International Road Federation (Geneva) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) are co-leading a new work stream on data sharing within the Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) initiative led by the World Bank. This new piece of work looks specifically at addressing the issue of policy making for enabling data sharing in urban mobility. The interim report on this new work stream co-led by the IRF and WBCSD was presented on 2nd June at the Sustainable Mobility for All Virtual Consortium Meeting. The event which saw the participation of more than 100 stakeholders from leading transport organisations and major development banks focused on the opportunities and challenges that the current crisis offers to define a “new normal” for the transport sector. IRF and WBCSD updated Members about their work–focusing on  progress since January 2020, and how the COVID-19 crisis impacts the issues under study.

Shared mobility data from diverse sources including different modes of transportation, smart infrastructure, smart-phones, and banking will constitute the nervous system of future sustainable urban mobility systems. Data sharing will underpin some of the most critical use-cases in mobility including mobility as a service, real-time optimization and management of freight and passenger fleets, regulation, operation and control of smart city infrastructure, and enabling EV charging across networks and optimization using telemetric data.

Further, data sharing will assume a critical role in ensuring a transition towards a safe, accessible, efficient, green, and resilient urban mobility system post-COVID. For example, data sharing can drive modal shift in commuting towards lower-impact, right-sized vehicles; help cities to deploy new access rules for private and public transportation and identify new streams of revenues; and support resilience and efficiency of the last mile urban freight.

However, multiple barriers prohibit the sharing of data including concerns around privacy, cybersecurity, competition, liability, unclear regulatory environment, and interoperability. While multiple data sharing initiatives have organically taken form over the last few years, there is limited consistency or replicability in terms of governance, data standards, rules for accountability, and third-party access.

Policy making and regulations, at the national and sub national levels will be essential to harmonize and scale these data sharing initiatives.

A sound policy framework for data sharing may involve national and subnational policymaking bodies to weigh-in on the key layers, including Data Collection and Aggregation, Data Standards, Communications Infrastructure, Governance and Accountability, and Use and Analysis. Articulation of policy decisions at each sub-layer naturally impacts how the following layer is structured.

It is anticipated that the policy elements in each layer embody Data Sharing Principles as set forth in WBCSD TUM’s Enabling Data Sharing: Principles for Transforming Urban Mobility, where applicable, to ensure a thriving, competitive and innovative data sharing ecosystem.

Going forward, this joint initiative co-led by WBCSD’s Transforming Urban Mobility project and its business members, and the International Road Federation, collectively hosted at SuM4ALL, will:

1. Validate and confirm the key elements of the policy framework for data sharing.
2. Assess existing data-sharing initiatives against the policy framework to identify key gaps and best practices. 
3. Articulate how regulators and policymakers may constitute such policies against the backdrop of existing data and digitalization policies such as GDPR, EU data strategy and the California Consumer Privacy Act.

In a subsequent phase, targeted pilots in local geographies will be conducted to test and validate findings.

Contact IRF Secretariat at info@irfnet.ch if you wish to get involved in the data sharing initiative. You can also read more on SuM4All new work streams here: http://sum4all.org/news/lets-hold-ship-steady

by Mao Macatangay

UNRSC on-line plenary meeting

The United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) group continues the series of on-line meetings to prepare action for furthering the road safety agenda. On the plenary hosted on 30^th June, Total Foundation and Panos Mylonas – two IRF Members – were appointed as new members of the collaboration.

Following travelling restrictions due to Covid-19, the collaboration has inaugurated a series of on-line meetings to facilitate the exchange of experiences and to coordinate action.  A lot of the discussion has been around how to regain the momentum created with the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety hosted in Stockholm in February 2020 and which was somehow lost because of the outburst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UNRSC plenary meeting hosted on 30^th June provided the opportunity to debrief on status of negotiation of UNGA resolution on road safety and to update the group on the progress made in planning for the World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims to be hosted later in November this year and the UN Road Safety Week which is scheduled for May 2021.

The group discussed also Covid-19 related activities by UNRSC members. Finally, three new members were welcomed in the collaboration: Total Foundation, Panos Mylonas  - both IRF members – and AAAM.

To learn more on UNRSC: https://www.who.int/roadsafety/about/en/

by Mao Macatangay

IRF’s input to the EIB’s Roadmap 2021-2025

In November 2019, the EIB’s Board of Directors approved a new level of ambition for the EIB towards climate action and environmental sustainability.The EIB now needs to turn this ambition into reality and is consulting key stakeholders to accompany it in developing its “Climate Bank Roadmap 2021-2025” – that will guide this transition.Speaking on behalf of the road sector, IRF was able to share its views and outline key priorities for the sector at a public consultation hosted on-line on 25^th June.

Opening up the event, Mrs Emma Navarro, EIB Vice-President stressed that the three elements of this ambition are to:

1. increase the share of EIB’s financing dedicated to climate action and environmental sustainability to reach 50% by 2025;
2. help unlock at least €1 trillion of investments dedicated to climate action and environmental sustainability from public and private partners by 2030; and
3. align all financing activities with the principles and goals of the Paris Agreement by the end of 2020.

Building on this, the EIB Group now needs to turn this ambition into reality across all of its activities and is hence working on a “Climate Bank Roadmap 2021-2025” – that will guide this transition. This roadmap will provide a detailed strategic and operational framework for its activities on climate action and environmental sustainability over the first five years of its commitment, i.e. 2021-2025. “We are ready to make hard decisions” said Mrs Emma Navarro concluding her introductory remarks.

Represented by its Director General, Mrs Susanna Zammataro, IRF stressed that the attention should be on how to build a truly safe, sustainable and efficient multi-modal system. In doing so it is important to:

1. Look at the strategic nature of the project. Traditional cost-benefits analysis are not good enough.
2. Invest in strengthening the resilience of the network. This means ensuring proper investments for upgrading and maintaining current assets.
3. Foster digitalisation in order to ensure a more sustainable resources’ usage.
4. Encourage innovation not just in techniques and materials but also on the way infrastructure is used.
5. Invest in capacity building: we can adequately respond to challenges only if we have skilled personnel.

Engagement on the Climate Bank Roadmap 2021-2025 will complement future public consultations, including most immediately the EIB transport lending policy and the EIB Environmental and Social Statement and the related Standards, which are due to start in 2020.

Contact IRF Secretariat info@irfnet.ch to learn more and to get involved.

by Mao Macatangay

SuM4All receives prestigious 2020 World Bank Award

Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) received the prestigious Vice Presidency Award as one of the most outstanding activities in the World Bank’s Infrastructure Group in 2020.  The award, normally granted to Bank-financed projects and knowledge work, specifically recognizes the coalition’s unique value as a multi-stakeholder partnership, and its growing influential contribution to the World Bank’s work, including transport projects.  Also underlined were SuM4All’s demonstrated impact, innovation, respect and inclusivity.

Partnering for Impact

Sustainable Mobility for All, launched in 2017, pioneered a new model for action in transport based on partnership, and has become the premier global platform for international cooperation on transport and mobility issues. SuM4All has succeeded in positioning transport at the core of the global development agenda and has transformed the conversation on the future of mobility in countries and cities. These notable achievements were the result of pooling knowledge and expertise from 54 international organizations and private companies.

SuM4All established technical credibility and legitimacy in the transport sector in the span of three years.  For instance, the Global Mobility Report 2017 (GMR) has become the trusted resource on transport for many leaders around the world.  And the recent Global Roadmap of Action toward Sustainable Mobility (GRA) is the only comprehensive catalog of more than 180 policy measures available to decision makers in transport community.

All of that documented knowledge is being put to use.  For instance, SuM4All secured an agreement with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to pilot the use of the Global Tracking Framework (GTF) and GRA in South Africa.  It is a unique undertaking in which expertise and data from partner organizations are collated with those from the World Bank to feed a new engagement and inform new projects in South Africa.

Innovation

1. Innovation is core to SuM4All’s mandate and drives our transformative ambition for the sector. While most partnerships at the World Bank support Bank-financed projects, SuM4All is one of the few partnerships with an initial mandate to provide thought leadership to fill a gap in the international transport architecture for a safe space—with a neutral convener like the World Bank ready to invest in a global public good.
2. SuM4All has curated the knowledge and expertise from its many Member organizations—and their high-caliber representatives—instead of solely relying on knowledge and expertise from one organization. These ideas have then been purposed to stimulate knowledge and innovation within the Bank. For example, the work of partners lays the basis for the World Bank transport policy response to the COVID-19 crisis.
3. A growing number of organizations such as the IFC, European Investment Bank, Agence Francaise de Développement, European Commission, have adopted the SuM4All’s four-goal framework (universal access, efficiency, safety and green) for their new transport strategies and investment programs. This goal-centric, system-wide framework represents a significant departure from the traditional view of transport, which is based on the pursuit of one policy goal at the time (e.g., access or efficiency); and
4. SuM4All positioned data and performance monitoring at the core of the conversation with client countries on transport.  For example, SuM4All developed a Global Sustainable Mobility Index score to measure a country’s distance to the end goal of sustainable mobility.

Respect and Inclusivity

Respect and inclusivity are at the core of the SuM4All partnership in line with the values of its Members and the World Bank.  It has provided a safe space for people from different backgrounds, identities, cultures, work styles, and perspectives with a platform to discuss sensitive issues in a respectful way and agree on a common way forward. 

Three examples illustrate these values in practice:

1. Membership is tied to commitments of the Membership Charter. “Engage in respectful and constructive dialogue that advances the interests of SuM4All, both within the group and in liaison functions”.  And “Promote gender equality as an integral part of the way SuM4All work”;
2. Commitment for gender balance in all panels that SuM4All organizes and in the composition of its Steering Committee; and
3. Equal representation of stakeholders in its governance structure. Members of the Steering Committee are elected via a democratic voting system for a two-year term.  The Steering Committee has seats for each category of important actors in the transport space—bilateral donors, development banks, private companies and business associations, the UN and inter-governmental organizations and civil society. The Chair of the Steering Committee rotates among Members. Our bi-annual meetings with all our Members are co-chaired by high-level country or city representatives—recent examples include those from Argentina, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Freetown and Quito.

SuM4All has been operating as an effective collaborative platform, and it will continue its focus on fundamental work, through its established five working groups.  At the same time, the international transport community faces a unique and challenging reality due to the pandemic.  SuM4All's Members expect the coalition of partners to take a more prominent role in helping the transport sector respond to the crisis and prepare for a new normal. Such decisions and pivotal actions rest with the Steering Committee, which will make strategic choices and prioritize COVID-19-related tasks for the latter half of 2020.

by Mao Macatangay

The IRF Africa Board discusses priorities for Africa

Meeting on 15 June via video conference, the IRF Africa Board took stock of the impact that Covid-19 has had on the transport sector in Africa and discussed priorities going forward. Opening up the meeting, IRF President, Bill Halkias stressed the need ensure collectively that resources made available for recovery are properly used. “Today more than ever, given the current pandemic and the challenges it brings, we need to stick together” he said. “This meeting will help us prioritise activities and make sure they are in line with the work each of your organisation is pushing forward” he added.

IRF has already voiced it concern for the absence of proper attention to the specificities of the African continent in the context of the current crisis and in the framework of discussion around recovery. “We are determined to ensure that Africa stays on the radar and receives adequate support in the difficult months and probably years ahead” Halkias said. “Africa has a special place in IRF’s heart and it has been a key area of action for the past 72 years. You can be reassured that it will continue to be so also during my Presidency” he concluded.

Mr Kiran Kapila - IRF President Emeritus – gave a quick recap on this initiative. Made up of members from prominent African Institutions, multilateral development banks, key regional and sub-regional Institutions and stakeholders, the IRF Africa has mainly an advisory role.

Discussion focused on the Regional Centres of Excellence being supported by the African Development Bank in Cameroon and Tanzania; on progress on the development of an African Road Safety Observatory; and on short-term and long-term training and capacity building needs for the continent and how those are being affected by the current Covid-19 crisis.

The group will meet again end of September to assess developments determined by the pandemic and further coordinate action.

More info on the IRF Africa Board is available on: https://irfofficial.org/irf-africa/

by Mao Macatangay