DISCO: Data-driven, Integrated, Syncromodal, Collaborative and Optimised urban freight meta model for a new generation of urban logistics and planning with data sharing at European Living Labs
–John Roodney Franklin
DISCO will develop and demonstrate - in real-life conditions - a federated European urban freight (UF) data space as one stop shop of data sharing on digital urban logistics solutions and smart tools for ambitious decision making. It will be a continental Ten-T – oriented and distributed real-life ecosystem to prove its value via demonstrated and replicable Use Cases (UCs), build upon innovation drivers to code concrete transformation of urban planning and land use by an open and collaborative UF Data Space with a smart governance model. The DISCO UF Data Space is voluntary based (incentivized), co-created and open framework to achieve a radical transformation and alliance in purpose-oriented data sharing, enabling smart access, fast and resource efficient acquisition, and focused provision, improving knowledge and capacity of city authorities and planners guaranteeing future data availability for dynamic (and predictive) integrated urban logistics planning, synchronizing real-time demand for transport & warehousing with logistics supply, (e.g., as Uber matches the demand for private car transport service with its road drivers’ fleet). DISCO will support European urban logistics players in reducing economic, societal and technical dependence from private digital platforms owned by large global providers, magnifying the scope of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) converging to datadriven Sustainable Urban Logistics Planning (SULPs), expanding them beyond traditional urban boundaries (e.g., rural areas, towns and suburbs, cities, and urban areas according to World Urbanization Prospects ) and beyond Covid-19, to optimally manage, monitor and dynamically predict city freight flows, changing urban nodes accessibility by properly serving Functional Urban Area - FUA on a larger, mixed-use, and flexible scale , and deliver advanced and well-informed planning and purpose oriented, optimised land use within a TEN-T and global dimension.
The DISCO projects, funded by Horizon Europe (European Union) aims to test and adopt a new generation of urban logistics and smart planning services with the aim to reduce emissions and better manage urban infrastructures. It involves a federated community of logistics service providers, mobility and technology providers, real estate and infrastructure owners and cities supported by specialized consulting, EU associations and academics. The partners and stakeholders will co-design, deploy, demonstrate, evaluate, and replicate innovative urban logistics and planning solutions.
The project has been proposed to examine the benefits of pursuing a dynamic infrastructure allocation model for cities. The concept assumes that by dynamically managing instrumented infrastructures cities can better utilize their assets, avoid congestion, and provide better services to their constituencies without adding costs. The project leverages IoT, cloud, digital twin, and dataspace technologies to develop a dynamic allocation and management system for cities with a focus on improving urban logistics operations. The objective is to facilitate dynamic infrastructure allocation to enable urban freight operations within a network-of-networks (Physical Internet) model.
