Unlock the potential of data

As a result of the increasing traffic of persons and goods the importance of adapted transport solutions will intensify in the coming years. The complexity and diversity of our socio-economic activities demand flexible and sustainable mobility provision. Here I think in the first place about innovative concepts which are based on behaviour change. This could consist of choosing different routes, times or means of transport, or a combination of all these. Almost every day new perspectives and possibilities open up thanks to the development of technology. But the valorisation of mobility data, in particular, provides enormous opportunities for the quality and the success of new initiatives in the field of sustainable mobility. These are typically grafted onto specific mobility information and will in turn lead to new insights, products and services.

Sustainable mobility has in the meantime become a much used concept, entailing the desire to move ourselves as well as our goods as efficiently as possible without damaging our living environment. To this end businesses, knowledge centres and public authorities must work together in search of innovative solutions in which behaviour change and sustainability play an important role. But probably the greatest opportunity for innovation today lies in the mountain of data and information that all stakeholders are collecting - all independently of each other.

Mobility data are collected and managed for various purposes and in numerous technological contexts. It is therefore not always that easy to ascertain if certain data do exist and to what extent these are current. One is often looking for a compromise between available time and resources on the one hand and desired outcomes on the other. To this should be added that data are stored in a fragmented manner, which leads to once-off use or to the repetition of similar measurements by other parties.

The benefit of an integral approach to mobility data is promising. Imagine the specific knowledge which could thereby be created. Or the advantages of standardisation and quality labelling through which synergies can be revealed and blind spots in the data landscape can be localised. All this forms an unmistakable source of inspiration for innovation and associated developments.

Quality information undeniably leads to new insights whereby stakeholders can enrich each other. Completed mobility projects by definition provide a wealth of new data which – in turn – produce additional knowledge. Businesses can further expand their economic activities with this and for the policymaker, too, interesting opportunities are created. Policymakers regularly conduct research into the expected outcomes of new policy measures. Information about mobility behaviour is essential for this.

Notwithstanding all sorts of valuable initiatives and technological developments, a lot still remains to be done. A positive aspect in any event is the growing awareness among all stakeholders of the need for an integral approach, especially in relation to reliability, the level of detail and the keeping up to date of mobility data. Other challenges are privacy, technology, business models and control. Which data will be available in which form and for which purposes? How do we make government data available to industry and vice versa? In which ways will new data be integrated? In the light of such questions it is definitely on the agenda for Flanders to scrutinise its existing systems and needs and chart the way towards a win-win situation. Broad stakeholder support for integral mobility management already exists. Now it is time for good projects to be implemented and results to be valorised into economic activities and social services. With quality data as the key trigger.