The IHHA is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in heavy haul railway operations, engineering, maintenance, and technology. It strives to accomplish this mission through the acquisition of knowledge relevant to this goal by sponsoring and organising international and regional conferences, specialist technical sessions and specialist seminars; by commissioning guideline manuals, by preparing and distributing conference proceedings and technical documentation and by related activities as recommended by the Board of Directors.
Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, as Board Member, attended the meeting during which he was asked to provide an insight into UIC’s strategic approaches. After having explained the interaction between the UIC Regions and the technical departments, he focused on the work UIC is undertaking in the field of digitalisation. This focus was particularly appreciated by the members as the key topic of the IHHA Conference due to take place over the next few days is about Heavy Haul 4.0.
Mr Loubinoux described the two areas around which digitalisation is being worked on at UIC on behalf of the members. The Digital Platform deals with more strategic topics such as DIGIM (Digital Impacts on Business processes) of which blockchain technology is a freight use case. In parallel, the technical departments work on collaborative projects as set by their members. In the context of freight, Mr Loubinoux highlighted the Digital Road Map for Freight recently endorsed by European CEOs which focuses on collaborative projects in the sphere of transport services and assest management.
The strong partnership linking UIC and IHHA enables the parties to exchange best practice and capitalise on the work of one another in the field of long and heavy train operation, thus ensuring there is no duplication but more complementarity. It is in this spirit that the Strategic Workshop of the upcoming conference was jointly organised by UIC and IHHA.
The Board Members warmly thanked Mr Loubinoux for his contribution over the years and look forward to welcoming Mr Davenne as the new Board representative.
