Innovation partnership City of Bruges
TNL enters innovation partnership with the City of Bruges
TNL and its partner SPIE Belgium have been selected by the City of Bruges in Belgium as its innovation partners. The three parties will sign a framework agreement for the duration of three years, with a possible extension to ten years. This innovation partnership will begin by realizing a platform that allows businesses in Ghent and Bruges to respond proactively to the traffic volume in the city.
Monitoring traffic volume in the city
The project is called VLOED (Voorspellen Lokale Ondernemers en Economie door Drukte; Predicting traffic volume for local businesses and the local economy). VLOED will provide useful information on the traffic volume in Bruges and Ghent to local economic actors, for instance the hospitality industry, entrepreneurs and investors. The platform not only displays current traffic volume on the streets, but also predicts how traffic will develop over the coming hours. On the basis of this information, users can then adapt activities such as provisioning or distribution.
Implementation of the project
To finetune VLOED optimally to its users’ needs, the project will begin by carrying out a user study among the city’s entrepreneurs. This will provide a clearer picture of the data required, the best form in which to provide it, and the required functionalities of the platform.
The platform will collect data from multiple sources, such as sensors, apps and cameras. One important data source is TNL’s FlowCube. This traffic sensor counts not only cyclists and pedestrians, but also buses and trams, and is able to determine their origin and destination in the city center. The platform combines and analyzes all available data sources to create an accurate image of current traffic volume. In addition, it uses artificial intelligence and data science to predict future volume. The FlowCube will also be used to assess the accuracy and relevance of volume predictions.
Living Labs
The FlowCubes and other VLOED platform technology will be initially operated in so-called Living Labs: specially designated sectors of the cities of Bruges and Ghent. The FlowCube will be used in the Ghent Living Lab. Sensor data will also be shared with others in the data community, such as interested government bodies and knowledge institutions – naturally in full compliance with all privacy rules.
We are looking forward to a great innovation project!
