Finnish businesses launch collaboration for exporting traffic data services
The Traffic Data Service Cluster, led by Fintraffic, was officially launched at the end of May. It includes several of Finland's top experts in the realm of traffic data services, who believe that in current times, collaboration brings better results when exporting internationally. Several doors have already been opened in Europe, but also in Asia, the Middle-East and in the United States, particularly with regards to participating in rail traffic and port digitalisation projects as well as smart road projects. Experience gained in the spring confirms that there is a demand for Finnish traffic data experts.
The cluster was established by Fintraffic, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, ITS Finland, Nodeon, Perille Mobility Services, Solita, VTT and Weivi. New actors are planning to join the cluster after its establishment. They will complement and thus strengthen the whole. The goal in the upcoming years is to form a group of 30 to 40 pioneering businesses, which will allow us to remain competitive in the export market. The cluster is open to new members.
“Regulation in Europe and around the globe, the digitalisation of the industry and the increasing everyday use of data create a market with room for Finnish high-level expertise, cooperation between public and private researchers and sustainable Nordic thinking. The spearhead of Finnish exports seems to be an effective and flexible partnership combined with a high level of expertise and leadership. Additionally, our promise of flexibility, compatibility and functionality even in demanding conditions is resonating,” says Fintraffic’s Kimmo Ylisiurunen, who oversees the export cluster.
The cluster aims to make the resource-wise traffic data services developed in Finland widely used in Europe, thus creating opportunities for businesses in the industry. Compared to individual businesses, the cluster allows for larger export projects to be launched, offering synergies from cooperation. This allows us to react to international competition and, where necessary, further develop existing traffic data platforms and the commercial services associated with them.
“We are very happy to be able to officially get started in opening up markets to Finnish businesses. The groundwork done and experiences gained in the spring have confirmed that there is a demand for Finnish traffic data experts internationally. Right now, making the right choices is crucial – which doors do we open, and how do we use our shared resources wisely. Fintraffic has succeeded, when cluster members gain more international business”, Ylisiurunen says.
Joining forces brings more varied and more interesting options
The participants see several benefits in moving into markets as a united front.
“We joined the export cluster, because we have been able to develop our system in the world’s most advanced country in terms of MaaS services, and we now want to export our start-up’s expertise to international markets. Customer cases and organisations in the traffic sector are huge, so for a small actor, the cluster is a perfect support network for entering international markets. In general, it makes sense for Finnish organisations to enter larger markets as a united front, because Finnish expertise is recognised internationally as high-quality and efficient”, says Olavi Paananen, CEO of Perille Mobility Services.
VTT also believes that joining forces is a good way to attract global interest.
“As we strive towards making our traffic system more carbon-neutral in the future, utilising data in improving traffic services is one key factor in solving the challenges faced by the traffic sector. We see huge potential in data and dataspaces in terms of both expediting the transition to sustainable modes of transport and optimising current transport systems. By international standards, traffic data and services in Finland are of a very high quality. By combining our strengths, we will be able to provide different customer groups and markets with enticing and multifaceted offerings to generate more interest,” says Eetu Pilli-Sihvola, VTT’s Mobility and Transport Lead.
A selection built around groundbreaking Finnish solutions
During the first phase of the cluster, the businesses’ shared offerings are centered around five entities: maritime and ports, traffic management and analytics, mobility services and information, rail systems and logistics.
Groundbreaking Finnish solutions exist in these areas, and they have been developed jointly by the industry. A demand for them has been identified in the international market. For example, the efficiency of ports can be increased with the Port Activity service package, which provides real-time vessel and port data, and the capacity of rail transport will be improved and the growth of rail traffic will be enabled via a new, pan-European train control system that is modern and based on radio networks. The system will be constructed during the Digirail project. Also, new smart tram projects in cities and solutions related to those will produce scalable innovations to urban mobility. In addition, various traffic data platforms (incl. Digitransit, Digitraffic) enable the use of innovative mobility services and smarter traffic control.
In terms of adding value to the traffic sector, the importance of data is growing rapidly, as means of transport, routes, end users and service providers produce, transmit and enrich increasing amounts of data. In Europe alone, the size of the sector that these services are geared towards is significant. The Mobility Strategy report* published by the European Commission states that the traffic and transport service sector generates about five per cent of Europe's total GDP. The industry employs approximately 10 million people, and European households spend the second-largest amount of money on this sector. Additionally, it is estimated that the value of the smart traffic market will grow by approximately 40 per cent between 2023 and 2028**.
Background Information:
Fintraffic is an internationally unique actor that combines the traffic control and data for all modes of transport under one roof. Promoting exports is a key part of the special mission assigned by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, which owns Fintraffic. On this basis, Fintraffic embarks vigorously upon opening doors for Finnish businesses. Fintraffic’s role as coordinator also includes preparing and compiling market reports.
Fintraffic provides open traffic data and platforms to the Finnish traffic sector. Fintraffic also promotes the interoperability of traffic data by coordinating the operation of the data ecosystem. Fintraffic’s distribution channel for open traffic data is Digitraffic, the traffic service catalogue FiNAP and the public traffic service platform is Digitransit.
Business Finland approved ecosystem funding for the purposes of launching the traffic data export cluster's operations in 2023-2025. The funding will be used for establishing the cluster’s operations and project management, for defining the cluster’s activities and services and for target market analysis.
For more information about Fintraffic's data ecosystem, please see the ecosystem's website. The website also has information on the data ecosystem rulebook, which forms the basis for the activities of different parties in the ecosystem.
Read more:
trafficdataservicecluster.fi
**The information can be found in the Intelligent Transportation System Market report published by Markets and Markets.
