Specialised Information Service Mobility and Transport

Transport is of central importance for the development of modern societies. Current projects such as the envisaged development of Germany into the lead market for electromobility or the discussion on private financing of transport infrastructure clearly show that the development of socially acceptable and sustainable solutions requires a scientifically sound basis for arguments. The development of key technologies in the transport sector, with particular attention to a systemic approach, is also an aim within the framework of the European Union. Transport science research makes a major contribution to this.

The intention of the project is to establish a specialised information service (SIS) in the field of mobility and transport as a lively, comprehensive and tailor-made service offer regarding transport science research. The aim is not only to further improve the current and future supply of specialist literature and research-related information, but also to provide information services and reusable tools to support the entire research cycle.

Due to the expected synergies resulting from the size of the expert community and the common need for unified information and tools for research, the technical focus of the intended SIS will initially be placed on traffic in the everyday context.

In order to address the needs identified in close cooperation with the transport science community, five fields of action are planned:

1. innovative web service platform for traffic science research
2. improvement of the literature supply with a focus on Open Access
3. strategies and structures for reusable research data
4. support for networking and exchange in research
5. public relations and science communication

The establishment and operation of the specialist information service will be a concerted effort among the various players in transport science research led by efficient information centres. The intended contents in the fields of action will be used to develop a subject-specific range of services and information as has never been available to research in this form before.

The project will be implemented in four phases. The first phase serves to establish and provide basic elements of the infrastructure and research-supporting services. In this way, the content strategy derived from the exploration of requirements will be further specified. In the second phase, the elaboration of the subject-specific information offer as well as the development and testing of specific tools and services will be carried out in close coordination with the specialist community. The third phase focuses on the active strengthening of open access and support for research data management in transport research. After 18 months, the complete range of information and services will be made available to the specialist community. In this fourth phase, the comprehensive evaluation of the fields of action and the user-oriented adaptation or further development of the individual modules will be carried out.