Euridice Service Platform

The Euridice Platform will allow to address simultaneously the logistics, business and public policy aspects of freight transportation, by dynamically combining services at different levels of cargo interaction:

  • immediate proximity services, for direct interaction with cargo items on the field, like individual shipments or packages: RFID-based identification services, mobile user services, vehicle services, site services supporting freight interaction with fixed structures such as terminals, warehouses and intermodal facilities
  • supply chain services for interaction with the actors responsible of shipping, carrying and handling the goods, as well as producers and consignees of the goods themselves
  • freight corridor services managed by authorities and operators in charge of infrastructures efficient operation, security and safety control, such as land and port terminals, railways and motorways for resources allocation and traffic control, customs agencies and other entities in charge of safety and security checks on the goods

Approach

The EURIDICE platform will consist of a fixed and mobile web services infrastructure supporting "on the fly" combination of services to address ad hoc user-cargo-context interactions. To this purpose the project will integrate and further develop several technological components and approaches:

  • adapting and integrating state-of-the-art identification, communication and networking technology (i.e. RFID tags readers/writers; GPRS localization systems; mobile devices; software defined radio technologies) into an Intelligent Cargo Integration Framework (ICIF)
  • realizing Cargo Intelligence applications for distributed and centralized data gathering, anomaly detection, analysis and prediction, based on approaches like semantic web and domain ontologies, advanced context technologies and distributed intelligent agents
  • implementing interoperability standards and service oriented architectures for public and private stakeholders to access and use the services they need on a cargo item at any point along its route across European corridors, connecting the cargo with back-office users and consumers

Activities

The EURIDICE integrated project has a duration of three years and an estimated effort of approximately 1600 person months, subdivided into three main typologies of activities:

  • S/T Research, pursuing the required innovations into the four main areas of cargo connectivity and communication, service oriented architectures, cargo information management and decisions support
  • Pilot applications, providing requirements and trial scenarios for test and assessment of the S/T results. Pilots will be designed and implemented taking into account of two dimensions: the supply chain/sector dimension, to assess impact from an industry view-point, and the stakeholder dimension, considering the different perspective of the main public and private actors involved in freight logistics
  • Impact creation, including know-ledge sharing, dissemination and training activities directed to target scientific and business communities to ensure proper diffusion of the project concepts and results. To maximize impact, business modelling activities are carried out throughout the duration of the project, involving industrial partners in the Consortium as well as key players in the field participating in the EURIDICE Business Forum

Partnership

The project is undertaken by a Consortium, coordinated by Insiel (Italy), bringing together 22 partners from 9 countries. The EURIDICE Consortium has been assembled to support a multi-disciplinary approach, involving leading industries and research organizations in complementary domains: mobile and wireless technology, RFID, application software, business consultancy and logistics. The key stakeholders are represented in the Consortium by leading industrial companies from different sectors, logistic operators, public authorities and infrastructures