Projects
STAR experts operate in various National, Regional and European programmes including:
- 7th Framework Programme (FP7)
- Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP)
- Interreg
- Marco Polo II
- COST
- European Development Fund (EDF)
- Europe Aid – External Cooperation Programmes/Sector Policy Support
List of main European Projects in which the key personnel of STAR have been involved. Diplayed in alphabetic order.
A-B Landbridge – Adriactic-Baltic Landbridge (2006-2008)
Funded by the INTERREG IIIB CADSES Programme, it promotes territorial cohesion between the Adriatic-Baltic short sea shipping areas, while fostering balanced, environmentally sustainable accessibility to new global markets. These long-term objectives are based upon the full deployment of the A-B landbridge corridors, and the logistics elements for ensuring the viability of the intermodal connections. The project analyses 3 A-B Landbridge corridor itineraries in terms of current (2006) and expected (2010, 2020) modal supply and demand, logistics considerations and spatial planning scenarios with the aim to establish new, real multi-sectoral partnerships between actors from different administrations, institutions and the private sector.
B2B LOCO (2009-2011)
Based on successful FP5&6 experiences of POLLOCO and CENTRAL LOCO projects, the revised and expanded concept of the B2B LOCO project is that enterprises collaborating with local market-oriented research units in an international network enhance their performance and competitiveness through the participation in FP projects or exploitation of its most business practice-oriented results.
B2B Loco is becaming a platform for an exchange of knowledge, best practices, new technologies and solutions within logistics. It created the way to substantially increase the participation of small/medium enterprises in the Framework Programme projects by demonstrating and actively promoting the most business practice-oriented results of past and current RTD projects.
CAESAR – Coordination Action for the European Strategic Agenda of Research on intermodality and logistics (2004-2007)
CAESAR is a Coordination Action funded by DG Research. The project created the first European platform on Intermodal: EIRAC (the European Intermodal Research Advisory Council).
EIRAC is a ‘peer group’ of high level industrial players set up to guide public and private investments on current Research Framework Programme in the European Union, and in Member or Accession States.
Active since 2005, it developed a joint research strategy through a new and common vision for innovation and change, which consequently turned into a Strategic Intermodal Research Agenda for year 2020, and the relevant Implementation Plan.
Members of EIRAC share their personal visions of intermodal transport in 2020, identifying mainstreams of innovation, organizing and prioritizing needs for research, and into the relevant implementation plan. The latter will be the instrument to direct EU and national resources to targeted research.
eMarCon – Electronic Maritime Cultural Content (2001-2004)
It is a research project to create virtual exhibitions.
The eMarCon project focuses on providing a more complete user experience by implementing a platform which allows geographically distant European museums and their visitors to arrange, and then experience, common maritime exhibitions via the Internet. The user can visit the presentations and interact with them. The presentations take into account the visitor’s profile (age, skills, language etc) when explaining the artefacts. The system can: guide the visitor through the multilingual exhibition using different sessions; protect his privacy within the Internet; allow access via PDA; combine information about virtual and real artefacts when visiting a real museum, and allow the real museums participating in the exhibitions to receive payments for their service.
E-MAR (2001-2004)
It is a Thematic Network for Supporting Methods of Management Systems for Suppliers and Consumers, E-Work and E-Commerce in the Maritime World.
The aim of the project is to enable both workers and maritime enterprises, particularly SMEs, to increase their competitiveness in the global market place, whilst at the same time improving the individual’s working life. The application of relevant parts of Information Society Technologies such as e-work and e-commerce in the maritime sector is considered essential to achieve and maintain competitiveness to meet the requirements in global market business development. The achievement of the E-MAR supports concentration and dissemination and the participation of SMEs, ship-owners, maritime and regional authorities and maritime city networks.
EMDI – Espace Manche Developement Initiative (2004-2007)
The EMDI project is an Interreg III B which seeks to extend and reinforce Franco-British co-operation around the Channel. It covers the identification of the challenges in the Channel area, the deployment of tangible initiatives on different themes and the development of a common regional data tool. The objective behind the EMDI project is to contribute to increased European integration by orientating and fostering co-operation between French Regions and English regional/local authorities on either side of the Channel.
ETISMAR – Economic and Technological Intelligence Action for SME’s in Maritime Industries (2001-2004)
ETISMAR is about enabling small and medium sized enterprizes (SME’s) from the European maritime industries to participate in and benefit from the European Framework Programme for Research and Development, especially the CRAFT programme.
FASTER – Fostering Alliances for Sustainable Transport in European Research (2004-2007)
FASTER provides a platform of added value services to EU SMEs from the transport sector, in particular maritime, and related business areas.
The project directly foster the participation of 55 SMEs into FP6 instruments, with priority to IPs/NoE. The project participants carried out large awareness raising actions on FP6 opportunities for SMEs. On this basis, SMEs have profiled by the project consultants and were able to have access to a series of services including technological audits and screenings of research plans, which aim to identify the excellent ones suitable to be integrated in particular, in ongoing or under construction IPs and NoE and other FP6 instruments (STREPs,SME-IPs, etc.).The excellent SMEs received coaching while being integrated into IPs/NoE and assistance in the writing of project proposals.
FREIGHTWISE – MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK FOR INTELLIGENT INTERMODAL TRANSPORT (2006-2009)
It is an integrated project within the EU’s 6th Framework Programme that aims at bringing together three different sectors:
• Transport Management: shippers, forwarders. operators and agents;
• Traffic and Infrastructure Management: Rail, Road, Sea, Inland waterways;
• Administration: Customs, Border Crossing, Hazardous Cargo, Safety and Security
The FREIGHTWISE project supports the co-operation of these sectors in order to develop and demonstrate suitable intermodal transport solutions in a range of business cases. The project shall support the complex service integration into integrated transport chains. The technical expertise in the project will focus on the development of a reference architecture for intermodal transport and the integration of relevant IT systems—including legacy systems—in the business cases.
HASREP – Response to harmful substances spilled at sea (2004-2005)
It is a pilot study funded under the DG ENV – Call for proposals 2004 of the Community framework for cooperation in the field of accidental or deliberate marine pollution. It goes into the nature of chemical substances transported by sea and to improve the knowledge on the response to chemical spills from ships.
I-FIAP – Implementation of the Freight Integrator Action Plan (2004-2006)
Co-funded by the European Commission, DG TREN, GROWTH programme, the project provided all necessary information for the European Commission to successfully prepare and implement the actions within the Freight Integrator Action Plan (FIAP). The study prepared the roadmap for implementation of the actions mentioned in the FIAP.
IMPACTE – Intermodal Port Access and Commodities Transport in Europe (2006-2008)
The project is funded by Interreg IIIB. It promotes and facilitates sustainable port based development and distribution of freight, focusing on economic, social and environmental benefits. The project includes small-scale investments in port infrastructure and feasibility works to improve intermodal port access. Through research, the project will also raise the profile of ports in terms of their contribution to the regional, national and European economy.
KOMODA (2008-2010)
The KOMODA project is an answer to the European Commission research objectives concerning the optimization of the logistics chain through co-modality.
When the EU Commission issued the Freight Transport Logistics Action Plan, one of the actions included was “Internet for cargo”. Behind the term “co-modality”, KOMODA has developed the idea of internet for cargo. Co-modal is a policy to exploit all modes as efficiently as possible, jointly and separately. The project aims at the development of an integrated e-logistic platform in order to make the information flow regarding a co-modal transport easier to manage. Co-modality and e-logistics are concepts undergoing development and challenges: we are moving into a world “under construction”, and we hope KOMODA contributes to its building.
KOMODA – following a bottom up approach, with a strong involvement of freight industry stakeholders – identifies the industry requirements in terms of organization of the logistic chain and technical specifications of the integrated information system.
Opportunities and obstacles affecting the future implementation of the e-Logistics integrated platform have been identified, resulting in the development of recommendations to empower the former and minimize the later.
MAREDFLOW (2005-2006)
It is a Pilot Action under the European Knowledge of Regions Programme and aim to promote the exchange of transport logistics domain knowledge in and between several maritime regions, with a view to enhancing their economic development and improve their transport logistics performance.
The MAREDFlow project utilises the concept of ‘knowledge development maps’ as a methodological approach both to identify the location of the sources of knowledge creation (KCs) and of knowledge utilisation (KUs), and to determine how to establish paths between the ‘map coordinates’ of the KCs and KUs and to effect the transfers along the paths between the KCs and KUs.
MISTIC (2000-2004)
MISTIC is a thematic project aiming to facilitate the introduction of Information Society technologies to Intelligent Shipping systems. It supports the presentation of innovative systems resulted from EU research projects as best practices for improving business procedure. The project has been prepared to ensure a higher level of involvement of end-users in the area of applying advanced information technologies for the waterborne transport.
It investigated and studied the OOA technologies to be applied in integarted trasnport systems for maritime related activities.
MOSES – MOtorways of the Seas European Style (2007-2009)
The goal of MOSES is to create a blueprint that establishes the detailed criteria and conditions for developing an innovative European network of Motorways of the Seas (MoS) as part of the Trans- European Transport Network (TEN-T). In addition, a main focus of the project will be to efficiently link sea transport with all other surface transport modes by transforming port terminals into seamless motorways junctions where the traditional interface barriers between the modes are eliminated.
MTCP – Maritime Transport Co-ordination Platform (2004-2007)
MTCP was a co-ordination action in maritime transport. MTCP addressed the need to enhance the relevance of the activities and expertise of Europe’s maritime technology, research, education, information and analysis organizations, to matters of maritime policy related to sustainable surface transport, European competitiveness and safe, secure and efficient operation.
A significant effort of MTCP was conducting studies related to maritime transport needed by the EU Commission to support and/or develop maritime policy.
ORCHESTRA – Open Architecture and Spatial Data Infrastructure for Risk Management (2004-2007)
The project is designing and implementing the specifications for a service oriented spatial data infrastructure for improved interoperability among risk management authorities in Europe, which will enable the handling of more effective disaster risk reduction strategies and emergency management operations. The ORCHESTRA Architecture is open and based on standards. Its specifications are contained in a document called the Reference Model–ORCHESTRA Architecture (RM-OA) which is open and free of charge.
REALISE – Regional Action for Logistical Integration of Shipping across Europe (2002-2005)
The project assisted European business actors and policy-makers to secure the key maritime transport objective of the European Commission White Paper on ‘A European Transport Policy’.
The REALISE findings have been widely accepted as the basis for further EU policy and research development concerned with developing short sea shipping and achieving seamless integration between sea and land and between different transport modes.
The project has been focussed on three main dimensions: Statistics, Environemental Impacts, Performance.
Regarding ‘Maritime Statistics’, a tool has been developed to convert tonnes into tonnes kilometres for any O-D pair (including port to port level), while a methodology has been developed to collect and analyse feedering data.
Regarding the ‘Environment’ a methodology and an accounting framework has been developed to perform environmental impact calculations (both in qualitative and monetary terms) for any given origin-destination relationship, and for any transport mode selected. As categories of external impacts of transport, the ICF distinguishes between: local air pollution, global warming, noise pollution, accidents and congestion (external costs). The ICF is backed up by a set of functional and mathematical relationships. These functional relationships are the outcome of a scrutinization and critical review of results of and assumptions adopted by environmental and transport research undertaken by third parties.
Regarding the ‘Economic Performance Assessment of Transport Modes’, a robust methodology and an electronic business-decision model/tool have been developed to calculate the transport performance in terms of costing, timing, and reliability of any transport mode available within a specific route. The tool is backed up by data on costs and timing of transport modes available between O-D pairs derived from the analyses of REALISE (no theoretical exercises). It also incorporates the functionalities of the other tool so that it can also calculate the environmental assessment at a segment level of the modes available between O-D pairs. Obviously, the tool is able to be updated and upgraded.
The findings of REALISE represent a stepping stone for a clearer understanding of the transport market service characteristics, requirements, peculiarities and functionalities for the development of intermodality during the next decade.
SEAM (2001-2004)
It is a Research project to mitigate the impact on environment of ballast water management, anti-fouling paints and air pollution.
SEAM focuses on formulating safety and environmental measures and procedures to mitigate the impact of three key elements of shipping operations on the marine environment:
- Ballast water management;
- anti-fouling paints; and
- quality of fuel and emissions.
More specifically, SEAM targets:
- Technical and operational solutions for treating ballast water;
- assessment of existing anti-fouling paints as well as environmentally friendly alternatives; and
- proposals for reduction of air pollution from ships.
SONORA – SOuth-NORth Axis – Improving transport infrastructure and services across Central Europe (2008-2012)
SoNorA is a transnational cooperation project, financed within the Accessibility priority of the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme, which aims to help regions across Central Europe.
The project aims to developing accessibility in South North direction, between the Adriatic and Baltic seas, in terms of:
Making the SoNorA network real, through support for the completion of transport infrastructure;
Activating and improving multimodal freight logistics services;
Developing transnational action plans for future realisations;
Supporting new regional development opportunities, due to transport network improvements.
TeleSHIPping (2001-2003)
Maritime Telecommunication Network funded by eTEN for providing Ship Management Information and Services for Passengers and the General Public.
TeleSHIPping is a market validation study of an information service for travellers and tourists on board ferries/ cruisers. This is based on an innovative service platform that enables secured links and interconnections among all the market players in the service provision chain (eg. Application service providers, vessel operators, port/sea/traffic monitoring/state-city authorities, travel agents and tour operators, computerised reservation systems, tourism content providers etc.), while offering the access to a variety of services for the general public.
TOHPIC (2001-2004)
It is a research project to improve interface between ports and high speed crafts. The difficulty for the High Speed Craft (HSC) to approach, manoeuvre and load or unload safely and efficiently in existing ports causes severe delays in turnaround time. This limits the applicability of HSC. To improve this with regard to manoeuvrability, mooring and terminal system TOHPIC addresses controllability, communications and management systems, the shape of mooring interface systems and devices, as well as automatic loading and unloading techniques. TOHPIC provides harmonised EU standards for sea/shore interface operation, proposing new shore to ship interface solutions by integrating port layout, cargo handling and infrastructure concepts. It proposes effective logistic solutions and provides a simulation tool for optimisation of turnaround and safety conditions. TOHPIC is end-user driven, by major ports, HSC operators and industry.
WATERMODE (2009-2012)
It is a transnational Network for the Promotion of the Water-ground Multimodal Transport. This project will highlight the potentials of the waterways crossing the area, contributing to the full integration of the maritime and river transport in the logistics chain.
The technical focus of the project is:
- Increasing the awareness on the characteristics of the ports and multimodal logistics facilities and their potentials in the area through the definition of a common set of indicators, the implementation of the census, and the analysis on the competitiveness of multimodal transport on predefined routes;
- Supporting the integration of the ports and multimodal facilities in the logistics chain, by contributing to the improvement of the links between ports and hinterland multimodal centres.
- Promoting common procedures for the training on safety of human resources employed in ports and logistics facilities.
