Valerann and Excelerate Technology Leverage Space Technology Enabled ITS to Enhance Security at the UEFA Women's Euro 2022
London, UK, July 21, 2022. ITS Equant, a project managed by a consortium between Valerann and Excelerate Technology and funded by the European Space Agency’s Space Solutions, has been selected to deploy the jointly developed innovative solution with Milton Keynes Council. The space technology will be used to enable local traffic authorities to efficiently manage local road traffic surrounding the Milton Keynes (MK) Stadium for the duration of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022.
The UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 is taking place in the U.K. in July and is expected to have a record-breaking attendance of 525,000 visitors. Four of the prestigious sporting event matches, including the highly anticipated semi-finals, will be hosted at the MK Stadium.
Large-scale planned special events, such as sporting games and concerts, attract significant numbers of pedestrians and passenger vehicles, resulting in substantial non-recurring road traffic congestion. Properly managing the movement and anticipating and managing traffic bottlenecks in real time during these events is crucial for travel safety, efficient mobility, and CO2 emission reduction. Achieving this is restricted by the current telecommunication capacity and the prohibitive costs of deploying widespread terrestrial communication infrastructure on demand.
The benefits of using active traffic management systems such as Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) have been widely proven, showcasing 20% reductions in congestion and 35% reductions in accidents. However, deployments are limited due to the costs associated with their roll-out that can amount to over £100,000 per km.
The ITS Equant consortium brings to the market a new generation of cost-effective satellite-enabled ATMS solutions suitable for a wide range of deployments – from roads around busy stadiums to highways serving communities in the remote Highlands of Scotland. Designed and brought to the market by Excelerate Technology, satellite communications-enabled CCTV cameras are a reliable source of critical primary road traffic information. A powerful AI-driven real-time traffic analytics platform, Lanternn by Valerann™ enhances this data with additional datasets (including satellite-derived positioning data) taken from floating cars, social media, mobile apps, and legacy sensors delivering the most comprehensive overview of any road in real time.
“It is an honour to have the opportunity of working with our partners and Milton Keynes Council on this exciting project” says Gabriel Jacobson, CEO of Valerann. “We are pleased to see the use of space technology combined with our advanced real-time data analytics platform to enhance security and efficiency in road traffic management for this landmark sports event. This is an important milestone for all of us in bringing this innovative and cost efficient solution to the market.”
Supporting Partners Quotes
Milton Keynes Council
“This is really exciting, showing the way forward in managing our transport networks. We especially want to see how we can make our roads safer and to help manage congestion so that we see a positive difference in our local environment. Well done to all our partners in making this a reality” – Brian Matthews, Head of Transport Innovation.
The European Space Agency, Space Solutions
“The solution proposed and implemented by Valerann is an excellent showcase of how integrated connectivity and data analytics can deliver innovation and help solving burning issues of municipalities and citizens. Increasing road safety, reducing congestion and CO2 emissions are challenges that are even more pressing on the occasion of events like the UEFA Women’ s Euro 2022. The success of Valerann Intelligent Transport System in this context is a promising step towards future green and smart mobility.” - Rita Rinaldo, Head of the Partner-led and Thematic Initiatives Section, ESA Space Solutions.
Excelerate Technology
“We are delighted to be working with Milton Keynes Council and Valerann to deliver smarter and safer roads through the advancement of enhanced technology and resilient and reliable connectivity. By leveraging both satellite communications and GPS technologies, the system is both scalable and — crucially — available as an off-grid solution and will help manage any disruption proactively ahead of UEFA Women’s Euro 2022.” - Chief Operating Officer, Bethan Evans at Excelerate Technology.
IRF Presents at the 3rd International Conference on Natural Hazards and Infrastructure (ICONHIC) 2022
The 3rd International Conference on Natural Hazards and Infrastructure (ICONHIC) was organized in Athens, Greece in early July. The conference's main theme was “Resilience and Sustainability of the Infrastructure” especially due to its exposure to increased risks created by Climate Change. The motto sounds more timely than ever, as plenty of our infrastructure systems at their present state are at high risk of not sustaining the extreme loading conditions imposed by natural disasters. The situation is exacerbated by the apparent deficiency of resources for maintenance or upgrading. Our planet is experiencing the roughest ecological disruption in its history, from climate change to biodiversity loss. Acute hazards, such as heatwaves and floods, grow in frequency and severity, while chronic hazards, such as drought and rising sea levels, intensify.
The Conference covered a rich spectrum of diverse topics including resilient design and lifecycle assessment of infrastructure, project financing and climate change, insurance, digital twins and big data, extraterrestrial hazards, earth observation and remote sensing, net-zero and sustainable design.
Bill M. Halkias, Immediate Past President and Member of the Board of International Road Federation (IRF) was invited to be part of two panels. In the first panel he represented IBTTA as it is currently its 2nd Vice President and set the stage by presenting IBTTA’s position on Climate Change. The panel discussion that followed focused on what climate risks, mitigation, adaptation and resilience mean for stakeholders and why it is essential that all stakeholders understand each other.
In the second panel Bill Halkias represented the International Road Federation (IRF) and outlined IRF’s position devoted to how climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience can be incorporated in project structuring.
Interventions Presentations
Private Sector Shows Leadership on Road Safety Action at the UN High-Level Meeting on Global Road Safety
The International Road Federation (IRF) has convened key industry leaders to discuss “Action for Road Safety: Private Sector Leadership” on the occasion of the UN High-Level Meeting on Global Road Safety being hosted in New York on 30 June and 01 July.
The new Global Plan for the Decade of Action clearly spells out that saving millions of lives and avoiding an estimated 50 million serious injuries per year will require significant commitment and greater action from everyone, including that of the private sector. For the latter, road safety is no longer just a risk that can severely impact business, but a value and a key pillar of a vision that sees companies fully engaged with their employees and the communities in which they operate.
“We have a golden opportunity to inspire a strong and renewed worldwide commitment to safer roads for all” said IRF President, M. Anouar Benazzouz at the opening of the event which gathered for the panel discussion senior management representatives from 3M, Holcim, Michelin, Unilever.
Speaking at the opening, Jacques Emmanuel Saulnier, General Manager of TotalEnergies Foundation presented the Private Sector Road Safety Coalitions initiative which is being supported by the Foundation and has now been deployed in Tanzania, Morocco, and Pakistan and about to be launched also in Senegal, India, Togo. “This initiative is rooted in the belief that road crashes are largely preventable and road safety is a shared responsibility” he said. Coordinated by IRF, the aim of the initiative is to federate private sector stakeholders to work together, in close collaboration with international institutions, NGOs, and local authorities to improve road safety via hands-on, impact-oriented, and scalable activities.
Often solicited only for financial contributions, the private sector has a lot more to offer. There are several areas of opportunity where companies can make meaningful contributions to road safety outcomes for their employees, contractors, and communities at large. Through innovation, thought leadership, early adoption, and development of technology, marketing, and training, companies are uniquely placed to raise road safety standards and behaviours.
“The private sector is good at changing behaviour and raising codes of practice and can play a role in making road safety a priority” said Dan Chen, President of 3M Transportation Safety Division. “If we uniformly implemented safety criteria in our procurement, our own fleets, our freight and supplier base, it could have a significant impact” he stated.
“We divided by 7 the number of deaths on our roads, in 7 years, this was done on 150,000 trucks, in 60 countries, doing 1.8B Km” echoed Holcim’s Chief Sustainability & Innovation Officer, Magali Anderson. “We did it by using two strong levers: training the drivers and monitoring their driving skills with some IVMS inside their vehicles. This allows real-time coaching. This system also collects a lot of data on our driving routes, which are used to optimise our logistics, and is helping us reach our scope 3 target of reducing by 24% the co2/km/ton transported. Transportation represents 15% of our total scope 3” she added.
“Safe, reliable roads and vehicles also mean satisfied customers and mentally and physically healthy employees” said Salik Muhammad, Road Safety Manager at Unilever. A certified trainer himself, Mr Muhammad outlined how capacity building and drivers’ training is one of the key priorities identified in Pakistan by the road safety private-sector coalition. The country does not have a national driver licensing scheme, and so technology and training are allowing the company to monitor but also engage differently with the drivers.
Nicolas Beaumont, Senior VP Sustainable Development & Mobility at Michelin spoke on the company’s engagement towards youth and briefly introduced the VIA Road Safety Education Programme, developed jointly by the Michelin Corporate Foundation and the TotalEnergies Foundation. The programme has already reached 200’000 students and more than 1’000 schools around the world. 3M is also working with others to improve safety around schools. Through its School Zone safety initiative, the company has committed to improving 100 school zones globally by 2024.
“We are asking the governments’ delegations to prioritise the life and well-being of people over everything” said Salik Muhammad in his closing remarks. “We have Race to Zero for CO2. We have Vision Zero for road safety. Both are important. It’s not either or” echoed Nicolas Beaumont. A sentiment shared by Magali Anderson who stressed how we can address multi-dimension issues with one single step. She brought to the stage the example of the Holcim’s Women on Wheels Programme, which is contributing to road safety and the global shortage of truck drivers by encouraging not only companies to hire more female drivers, but also by giving to those women the confidence they need to get behind the wheel.
“We need to create a safety ecosystem with regulators, government agencies, banks, and technology providers to that ecosystem. With the right business model, then it becomes self-sustaining” concluded Dan Chen.
A recording of the event animated by IRF Director-General, Susanna Zammataro is available on the event page.
For more information, please contact the International Road Federation at info@irfnet.ch.
