JPI Urban Europe’s ERA-NET Cofund proposal on Urban Accessibility and
Connectivity has been selected by the European Commission and in the
context of this ERA-NET, a call for proposals will be launched in
December 2019.

JPI Urban Europe’s ERA-NET Cofund proposal on Urban Accessibility and
Connectivity has been selected by the European Commission and in the
context of this ERA-NET, a call for proposals will be launched in
December 2019.
The Internet, created to provide resilient and interoperable communication across the globe, has evolved to transport today an immensurable amount of data and this continuing evolution will greatly impact many areas from industry to health care provision, to traffic management and intelligent logistics.
During the last decade, the following trends have emerged as part of what we call “Future Internet”: the Tactile Internet, the Physical Internet, the Internet of people and Internet of Free Speech. Applications using these technologies are growing at a fast pace and spreading through a large variety of sectors and industries. The implications to society and applications for specific industries – including banking and finance, connected driving, utilities, transport, media and creative industry – are limitless.
The Future Internet services requires the use of innovative ways of combining geo-referenced data with satellite derived data as open data, businesses data and volunteered data. Satellite communications and 5G networks underpin these applications providing ubiquitous connectivity and data relay capability. Exploitation of space-based assets data opens therefore new opportunities to develop applications related to the “Future Internet”.
Among others, there is room for:
Physical Internet (PI). It represents an innovation in logistics which is based on the working principles of the digital Internet. An internet-like network for goods means no data is encapsulated in data packets, but goods are encapsulated in PI-containers. Furthermore, PI-containers are routed through the network via PI-hubs, like data packets are routed through the internet by routers. Most candidate PI architectures highlight the necessity of real-time continuous communication and positioning of the PI-containers. At sea or in zones not covered with cellular networks, the use Satellite Communications is a must to accommodate for ubiquitous communication requirements. The same goes for satellite navigation in order to always locate the PI-container along its path. Applications of the PI could be discovered in the logistics sectors that have most to gain from the PI capabilities, as for example the secure transport of medical goods (drugs, blood samples,..) and the delivery of fresh food requiring timely delivery and monitoring of integrity of the goods.
Ponera Group has developed a unique logistic solution based on an
innovative design of pallets’ system which decreases packing costs by
minimizing the transport inefficiencies. The flexibility of this
innovation makes it applicable to wide range of industries.
MIXMOVE is a company providing a suite of logistics solutions for intelligent, horizontal collaboration between shipper, carrier, hub, distributor and the end customer. The Match solution provided by the company is able to increase load factors by optimising the preparation of modular loading units in different hubs, thus allowing to reduce half-empty trucks. This is a credible example of handling modular units and reconfiguration node operations in a systemic approach, optimising the cargo capacities, reducing manual handling and enabling end-to-end supply chain visibility and control. This logistics process is based on splitting logistics units down to parcel level so that cross-docking can be used to produce logistics units with vastly improved load factors. It provides the necessary functionalities to run the logistic network, such as TMS, WMS, and a supply chain dashboard. The solution is suitable for shippers and logistics service providers with complex logistics operations and high volume.
Flexible logistics solutions for growing online stores.
It makes it possible for small shippers and online retailers to easily outsource their entire physical goods warehousing and logistics.
The company provides the entire warehousing and logistics package: warehouse and maintain stock, send goods globally with the best possible freight forwarders, and provide a variety of added value services usually available only for larger retailers.
OGOship is a 3PL company
providing outsourced logistics for e-commerce in flexible a transparent way,
therefore enabling the access to a large logistics network bringing value of consolidation for a large number
of small shippers.
The transport sector contributes to about 25% of total CO2 emissions in the EU and is the only sector where the trend is still increasing. Taking into account the growing demand on the road transport system and the ambitious targets of the EC’s Transport White Paper, it is paramount to increase the efficiency of freight transport.
The vision of the AEROFLEX project is to support vehicle manufacturers and the logistics industry to achieve the coming challenges for road transport. The overall objective of the AEROFLEX project is to develop and demonstrate new technologies, concepts and architectures for complete vehicles with optimised aerodynamics, powertrains and safety systems as well as flexible and adaptable loading units with advanced interconnectedness contributing to the vision of a “physical internet”. The optimal matching of novel vehicle concepts and infrastructures is highly important, requiring the definition of smart infrastructure access policies for the next generation of trucks, load carriers and road infrastructure.
The specific technical objectives, main innovations and targeted key results are:
1. Characterise the European freight transport market (map, quantify and predict), the drivers, the constraints, the trends, and the mode and vehicle choice criteria
2. Develop new concepts and technologies for trucks with reduced drag, which are safer, comfortable, configurable and cost effective and ensure satisfaction of intermodal customer needs under varying transport tasks and conditions.
3. Demonstrate potential truck aerodynamics and energy management improvements with associated impact assessments of the new vehicle concepts, technologies and features developed in the AEROFLEX project.
4. Drafting of coherent recommendations for revising standards and legislative frameworks in order to allow the new aerodynamic and flexible vehicle concepts on the road.
To achieve an overall 18-33% efficiency improvement in road transport / long haulage by 2025+.
LEAD will create Digital Twins of urban logistics networks in six cities in TEN-T urban Nodes, namely Madrid (Spain), The Hague (the Netherlands), Budapest (Hungary), Lyon (France), Oslo (Norway) and Porto (Portugal).
These will test and represent different innovative solutions for city logistics to address the requirements of the on-demand economy, while aligning competing interests and creating value for all different stakeholders in a public-private setting.
Each value case will allow for the development of solutions for shared, connected, and low-emission logistics operations, empowered by an adaptive modelling approach and the Digital Twin models. Agent-based models will be used to enable logistics stakeholders to recognise their roles and business models, including relevant operational, tactical, and strategic decisions in the Digital Twin, mirroring value cases in city life.
The long-term vision of LEAD is to design an open, physical internet-inspired framework for smart city logistics that incorporates the created Digital Twins, laying the foundations for the development of large-scale city Digital Twins.
PLANET addresses the challenges of assessing the impact of emerging global trade corridors on the TEN-T network and ensuring effective integration of the European to the Global Network by focusing in two key R&D pillars:
In this section you will find Reference Documents on the Physical Internet
This section contains materials produced at MINES ParisTech in collaboration with Hong-Kong University and with the support of the Physical Internet Chaire and its partners.
This section includes information and documentation restricted to ALICE
full members.
It includes Minutes of the Plenaries, Statutes, Code of Conduct, membership lists and other relevant information.
If your company is a member and you would like to join this group, please contact ALICE secretariat at info@etp-alice.eu so we grant you access.
Have a look to ALICE membership and how to join if you are not sure or if you would like to know more on membership.
Blockchain has been one important developing technology to support logistics digitalization. ALICE recognized earlier some of these potentials but also the hype behind the technology and organized the Collaborative Innovation Day: Blockchain applications and cases for logistics[1] as a starting point to get a better overview of the technology and potential use cases and applications for logistics (link).
After a couple of years, we start to see some application brought forward into the market, but we also recognize some challenges to bring the value proposition forward to customers and specific challenges in the development of blockchain platforms. Blockchain has indeed triggered certain developments in which blockchain is used in combination with others.
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