On 12 June, Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, UIC Director General, opened a Digital Session in the frame of the North American Regional Assembly (NARA) that was held in Washington.
The session was an opportunity to learn more about the most up-to-date digital trends.
VIA Rail reported on the Proofs of Concept (PoC) they implemented within the frame of the DIGIM (DIGital Impacts) project: “Clear Station” and “Digital Level Crossings”.
Clear Station aims to serve blind passengers thanks to a new digital way of helping visually-impaired passenger to find their way around railway stations in the most autonomous and safest way possible.
The PoC was tested in real condition by blind passengers in Ottawa station and was validated. Using smartphone as the interface, it can be coupled with the white electronic stick.
The second implemented Proof of Concept is related to one of the most important issues referring to rail security: Level Crossings.
How do we make level crossings safer thanks to digital innovation? The first phase was related to the optimisation of the closing time of level crossings in relation to the speed of the trains. An interface is about to be implemented with in-car GPS.
Three key actors of the digital ecosphere participated in this digital session: Splunk, Amazon and Blue Ridge Networks:
- Splunk presented the projects they developed for DB and the Proof of Concept designed for IP. Both achievements highlight the potential added-value that big data might represent for rail.
- Amazon chose to focus its presentation on cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence and its applications
- Blue Ridge Networks, a major reference in cybersecurity, presented its specific approach to this threat: eliminating vulnerabilities is the key!
This event enabled open and fruitful and positive exchanges to take place between participants and the speakers, highlighting the current challenges to be faced.
Mr Loubinoux in his closing speech reminded the audience of how digital technology can help rail to face its new challenges: SISICOM (Sustainable Integrated Connected International Chain Of Mobility) is the acronym to keep in mind.
