The development, testing and demonstration of the Physical Internet is among the EU priorities for research and innovation in the field of logistics following the recommendations from ALICE. Many projects have been funded addressing different aspects of the Physical internet. Some projects, e.g., MODULUSHCA, ATROPINE, CLUSTERS 2.0, SENSE and ICONET were funded to develop the basis and increase credibility on the benefits to advance towards the concept of PI. For example, ICONET project developed 4 case studies addressing senior decision makers within logistics service providers, logistics service users, trade organisations, professional institutes, government regulators and policymakers demonstrating the benefits of the Physical Internet.
The pool of projects has evolved for 10 years, starting with only 3 projects in FP7, Modulushca, CO3 and iCargo projects and increasing significantly in the subsequent Horizon 2020. Horizon 2020 projects have started the implementation path for the PI while continuingly contributing to the development of the concept of the PI, such as ICONET and Clusters 2.0 projects. Of them, a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) project, the SENSE project, has developed the PI roadmap that has provided a comprehensive guidance for future development of the PI. PLANET or ePICenter are running project building further on the previous projects. Currently there are several projects in execution such as, focussed on synchromodal transportation and interconnected corridors addressing global and European transport networks as well operations in nodes, e.g. Stargate which is supporting the implementation of the PI in air cargo operation. Some Horizon 2020 projects, e.g. the AEROLEX project, integrate the PI concept with energy transition and connected and automated vehicles, facilitating a paradigm shift that is building upon zero emission logistics.
ALICE also promoted the implementation of the PI concept to contribute to sustainable urban mobility, resulting in ongoing projects such as LEAD and ULaaDs, and recently started projects URBANE and DECARBOMILE that have been funded by the Horizon Europe programme.
Figure 3 shows all projects mapped by this cloud report including FP7 and Horizon 2020 projects that have contributed significantly to the development of the PI concept and implementation of the concept. Contributions of those projects to development and implementation of the PI concept will be mapped following the PI Roadmap shown in Figure 1.
In addition to the EU funded projects, at the national and regional level, Austria is supporting the development of the PI through the ATROPINE and the running project PHYSICAL. Flanders in Belgium has found several projects, e.g. the DIsPatch project and the PILL project that provides PI Living Labs. As this report focuses on EU funded R&I projects, those national and regional projects will not be included in the mapping.
Horizon Europe projects, e.g. the MULTIIREOLAD and FOR-FREIGHT projects, continue focussing on the multi- modal PI Nodes. Additionally, URBANE is to demonstrate PI-enabled urban logistics solutions in several European cities. Horizon Europe projects that only started in 2022 and 2023 will be discussed separately as they have not yet produced any concrete outcomes and results.