The recent Open Day in our Starring Living Lab Ghent marked a significant milestone for the DISCO project, attracting substantial interest from participants keen on the Lab’s developments. Hosted on 5 June 2024, the event showcased the promising Urban Access Controller, highlighting its potential to streamline transport planning by integrating access rules and regulations into planning tools. This innovation drew particular attention from city representatives eager to optimize logistics flows and adapt rules based on the insights provided by the platform.
The day’s proceedings began with the City of Ghent presenting its logistics plans, followed by a keynote from Laura Tavernier of Rebel. Tavernier’s presentation on calculating logistics flows in Flemish cities underscored the holistic approach of the Ghent Living Lab, which encompasses all types of logistics flows rather than focusing on a single domain such as e-commerce.
Participants were then introduced to the DISCO project and the Urban Access Controller, after which they engaged in interactive brainstorming workshops. One workshop focused on data retrieval, discussing the necessary data and conditions under which companies are willing to share it. The other workshop centred on collaboration with sustainable last-mile logistics providers. Both workshops yielded fruitful outcomes, emphasizing the need for tangible benefits for all stakeholders to foster collaboration.
The Open Day concluded with Bart Vannieuwenhuyse from Tri-Vizor sharing his vision of a collaborative model in city logistics, incorporating many principles of the DISCO project and the Physical Internet.
The event, attended by 35 participants, provided a platform for networking and establishing connections for future collaborations. As the day wrapped up, participants stayed for drinks, paving the way for follow-up conversations and potential testing partnerships. This autumn, the Ghent Living Lab will escalate its activities, with the platform going live and demonstrating its capabilities in real-life conditions in the inner city of Ghent. This upcoming phase promises to be an exciting development to watch – stay tuned for more information!