Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FUTURE-RADAR (Future Research, Advanced Development and Implementation Activities for Road Transport)

Teaser

During the project kick-off meeting in January 2017 (M01), all details of the project execution were discussed and agreed on among the partners strictly following the content of work as described in annex 1 of the contract. Hence, project work immediately started as planned in...

Summary

During the project kick-off meeting in January 2017 (M01), all details of the project execution were discussed and agreed on among the partners strictly following the content of work as described in annex 1 of the contract. Hence, project work immediately started as planned in the three parallel running technical work packages along with work package 4 dealing with the project management and administration. All deliverables are submitted as planned – even if very few with minor time delays – and all mile-stones are reached so far.
Numerous technical/operative projects meetings and workshops were executed as described in detail in this report. On overall project and consortium level, the second general assembly (after the first at the kick-off meeting) was held in April 2018. Further, to foster a smooth and continuous flow of information among the project partners, quarterly web meetings are held.
As planned, work in WP1 focused on the investigation of the progress and success of previous and ongoing road transport research projects with the later aim of the identification of best practice guide-lines as well as the support of ERTRAC and EGVIA in the elaboration and definition of short- and long-term future research needs.
The focus of the project work within WP 2 was on the analysis of funding approaches and opportunities for road transport research outside of Europe. Further, significant efforts as panned were invested in the promotion of sustainable transport solutions in cities. Co-operations with approx. 20 cities were initiated, most of them in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Finally, the activities in WP3 aimed at establishment of the communication structure for the dissemination of project results. In particular, a close link to EURACTIVE as news platform was established in order to consolidate the dissemination towards European decision makers, representatives of the Member States, the European Commission and the European Parliament. Further, the ETP ERTRAC and EGVI dissemination activities were supported.

Work performed

Generally, the actual project work proceeded in the three main work packages as planned. Minor deviations caused some delays in the submission of a very few deliverables which, however, did not have any further negative impact on the progress of the project.
Also, during the first 18 months, potentials for further optimization of the dissemination activities in WP3 were identified. In particular it was agreed among the partners that more budget should be available in this WP for the leading project-partners. It was also agreed on that the knowhow of some particular experts working at an affiliate (of a project partner) not yet been considered should be utilized. Consequently, an amendment to the contract was initiated and finally agreed on.
The project partners closely co-operate in their work packages and tasks. Information needed for the project management and administration is provided by the project partners generally in time with excel-lent quality.
No major deviations occurred during the first reporting period from M01 to M18.

Final results

Generally, the project work will continue as initially planned. However, as discussed during the 2nd general assembly, the quality of the work in WP1 task 1.3 should be further improved with additional support from academia regarding the methodology for the identification of long term research needs (at lower TRL) and suitable research centres of excellence. In particular, the project partner AUTH ex-pressed its interest to contribute to this issue. It will be discussed in the next quarterly web meetings how to implement this approach in case by shifts of personal efforts and minor amounts of budget.
Regarding the next deliverables and milestones, related project work is ongoing and it is expected that all deliverables and milestones will be achieved as planned. Major project efforts in 2019 will be dedicated to the support of ERTRAC and EGVIA for the elaboration of detailed research needs towards FP9 Horizon Europe (roadmaps, research implementation plans, …) as well as the support for the preparation of the TRA2020 in Helsinki. Further, ERTRAC and EGVIA will be supported by the project team in the presentation and dissemination of ongoing road transport research towards the public and the European commission.
The next general assembly is planned to be held in spring 2019 followed by the 4th general assembly during the TRA2020. The final project event will take place in Brussels towards the end of the year 2020 with a presentation of all achievements.
The project management and administration will continue based on the successfully implemented project management structure.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.ertrac.org/index.php.