Digital Connected Services

DIGITAL CONNECTED SERVICES

Digital Connected Services was developed to examine how autonomous maritime systems could connect with mobility networks, operating infrastructure and digital service layers.

The programme modelled connected operations for rural and metropolitan settings, including on-demand mobility, visitor transport and integration with bicycles, e-bikes and other local modes. OwnerCare and FleetManager were developed as service concepts for fleet visibility, predictive maintenance, operational efficiency and interfaces between vessels, operators and infrastructure.

The work treated waterways as part of a wider intermodal system. It examined where connected, autonomous and zero-emission vessels could complement constrained road infrastructure and link regional or metropolitan mobility networks.

One historical use-case model examined the potential to avoid up to 1,000 road-vehicle movements per day through an integrated waterway service. The architecture considered bicycles, e-bikes and scooters, onboard charging concepts and connections to surrounding transport modes. During that development phase, UFB reported discussions with more than six regions and three cities about pilot and early-adopter scenarios. These discussions produced knowledge about local infrastructure, operators and public-sector requirements; they did not establish a standardised service available across those locations.