The Dutch government has set stringent mobility targets for 2020. ITS will play a leading role in achieving these targets, by maximising the efficiency of road infrastructure and fuel consumption.
The Dutch ITS sector is blessed with a full range of ITS companies, from chips (NXP, Catena) to consumer products (TomTom) and professional products (Peek Traffic, GreenCat) with embedded software (Logica, TASK24, Fourtress) as well as infrastructure and back offices (Logica, TomTom), as well as TNO and leading universities (TU Eindhoven, TU Delft, Universiteit Twente and Universiteit Leiden). An impressive number of these are ERTICO Partners (NXP, TomTom, Peek Traffic, Logica, TNO...)
To rise to the challenge of the 2020 mobility targets, these parties have formed the SPITS (Strategic Platform for Intelligent Traffic Systems) consortium. SPITS aims to create an open, scalable, real-time, distributed, sustainable, secure and affordable platform for cooperative ITS applications, evolving from existing infotainment systems, and to:
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Build the next generation of ON-Board Units (OBUs) that are open and easily configurable for OEM specific requirements. They will also be (hardware) upgradeable, which will allow innovation during the lifetime of the system (i.e. lifetime of the car) and lead to faster adoption of new technologies.
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Adapt existing Roadside Units (RSUs) to support cooperative technology and to supply local information about all traffic
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Build the next generation of Back Offices, that can offer services to either OBUs or RSUs, and that can realise remote service life cycle management
Because the hardware is upgradable, both short and medium term innovation is encouraged, and ITS solutions can be continually developed and refined. Because the SPITS platform is open, maximum impact in traffic mobility, safety and environment is envisaged, with large scale ITS solutions now possible.
Furthermore, SPITS is deeply embedded into the HTAS “Driving Guidance” focus area and the Point One roadmap on Transport, Logistics and Security and Nano-electronics.
A close cooperation with ERTICO flagship project CVIS (Cooperative Vehicle Infrastructure Systems) is foreseen. The cooperation leaders from SPITS side will be mainly CVIS and ERTICO partners Logica and TNO and ERTICO partners TomTom and NXP.
All this will create a new “innovation” ecosystem, or a cascade effect, where benefiting and strengthening the Dutch economy in the vital domain of ITS. SPITS is a unique opportunity for The Netherlands to set the worldwide pace for new automotive products markets and opportunities.
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