Waterborne Traffic and Transport Management Technical Secretariat (thematic network)

The achievements resulting from the activities of Waterman membership are:

1. The Waterman Thematic Network, through a series of four workshops, complemented by several seminars, endeavoured to gather representatives from all interested parties, and to elaborate jointly with them a common view on the situation and the lessons to draw from it. These meetings offered the following benefits:
   - ensure a wide dissemination of the results;
   - gather professional actors' opinions on the traffic and transport management needs; 
   
2. National contributions, reflecting the recent developments and prospects in different EU Member States, were presented by high level actors, for consideration and discussion in the Waterman seminars or workshops. Some exemplary developments demonstrated that synergies between traffic and transport may be enhanced. Significant facts were also collected in non-European countries, and particularly in Singapore. 
   
3. The Waterman Thematic Network gathered, and made available to any interested party, a documentation composed of:
   - a glossary of terms,
   - a list of relevant publications. 
   
4. Waterman prepared a series of synthesis documents on current trends regarding:
   - hindrances and constraints affecting data exchanges,
   - information systems developed for transport logistics,
   - the rationale and applicability of the Formal Safety Assessment methodology,
   - the SafeSeaNet network, Waterman exchanges of views with other Thematic Networks (THEMES, THEMIS, SWAN) or projects (EMBARC, TRAPIST, IPPA, COMPRIS) led in June 2002 to the submission to the Commission of proposals for projects clustering.
   
5. Based on the methodology as described in the final report:
   - approximately 150 EU projects were reviewed,
   - a computerised database was created and maintained, including detailed information on a span of 65 relevant projects,
   - guidelines for traffic and transport management related information systems architecture were developed.

Policy implications

The Waterman Thematic Network recommends that :

1. More endeavour be devoted to enhance mutual trust between stakeholders involved in traffic and transport management. Waterman recommends in particular that criteria be specified to discriminate whether or not an information is commercial in nature, and that protection modes be defined for the information considered as confidential. More generally, ways to clarify ownership and ensure reliability of data should be defined.
   In that context, opportunities should be investigated to transfer public services to private entities, including neutral information providers/brokers (third trusted party), without endangering core public interests. Simultaneously the possible merits of public support to reference systems which, although attractive, have not yet proven their benefits in practice, should be identified and explored. 
   
2. In depth analyses be further carried out to promote the concept of a one stop, shop a precondition to the development of short sea shipping. Such analyses should take account of :
   - the requirements for suitable interfaces with other modes of transport,
   - the requirements for electronic reporting procedures, as made mandatory by the 2002/59 Directive,
   - the implementation of the SafeSeaNet network,
   - the considerable increase in the amount of data that will result from the development of systems such as AIS and RFT,
   - the development of recent IT technologies such as XML. 
   
3. In addition to 2, future information services be designed with the objectives:
   - to promote event driven real time transactional systems and supply chain event management, and to this end,
   - to produce targeted information from available data. 
   
4. Attention be paid to the risk of vulnerability which may result from increasing dependability of processes and process chains, and hence require secure systems designs and intelligent security architectures. 
   
5. More attention be paid in the next future to the human element from both the social and economic points of view. Especially in the safety and security sectors, man is the key factor. 
   
6. Any study of maritime traffic and transport information systems be subject to a systematic approach aimed at defining the architecture of these systems at the appropriate levels:
   - the policy level,
   - the business (operator) level,
   - the manufacturers levels.
   
   The Waterman guidelines on system a