Project Consortium

The PAVE-SCAN consortium comprises of thirteen organisations (in seven countries), each bringing into the consortium unique expertise, interdisciplinary & complementary skills, and experiences covering all aspects of the project. Further to spanning the entire quadruple helix (higher education institutions, enterprises, policy makers, and other interested organisations), the consortium is also geographically distributed across EU regions of variable needs and state of knowledge in terms of the proposal’s subject matter. More importantly, the research partners originate from different domains (scientific/applied research, transport infrastructure management, ICT, civil/environmental engineering, hardware/software development, system integration, and management), while the other partners have expertise in business development and product commercialization, operations and maintenance, and public policy.

Further, most of the consortium partners do have strong collaborations amongst them, having in the past successfully collaborated with each other on other EU- or nationally-funded projects.
List of participants
NoProject ObjectiveCountryWebsite
1[UCY] - UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS / (Coordintor)CY Visit Website
2[GEO] - GEOIMAGINGCY Visit Website
3[SGX] - SIGNALGENERIXCY Visit Website
4[ELEC] - ELECTI CONSULTINGCY Visit Website
5[NPT] - NPT NICOSIA PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICES & OPERATIONS LTDCY Visit Website
6[LEF] - LEFKOSIA MUNICIPALITYCY Visit Website
7[AUTH] - ARISTOTELIO PANEPISTIMIO THESSALONIKISGR Visit Website
8[STAM] - STAM SRLIT Visit Website
9[AMT] - AZIENDA MOBILITA E TRANSPORTI S.P.A.IT Visit Website
10[MPT] - MALTA PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICES (OPERATIONS) LTDMT Visit Website
11[ALSA]   ALSA GRUPO SLUES Visit Website
12[TALN]   TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT, CITY ADMIN. OF TALLINNEE Visit Website
13[BRIR]    BRIMATECH RESEARCH gGmbHAT Visit Website

The University of Cyprus (UCY)

is PAVE-SCAN’s Coordinating Organization, and its role is pivotal to the successful execution of the planned WPs. Further to management and dissemination activities (WP1), UCY will be instrumental in the development of the PAVE-SCAN system architecture (WP3), and in the work related to the low-cost assessment of roadway pavements (WP4, WP5). In these WPs, UCY will help develop the algorithms for vibration-based and vision-based pavement distress detection and classification and help with the development of technology embedding such algorithms. Finally, UCY will participate in all capacity-building activities (WP7), transferring knowledge to policymakers and industrial partners on the sustainable operations of transport networks. UCY has an extensive peer-reviewed publication record in the project’s core subjects (vibration- and vision-based roadway pavement condition assessment, DSS, PMS), and a long funding (national and EU) record on transport and pavement-related topics. Most notable of these and a prelude to the present proposal is the ‘RONDA: Roadway Network Distress Assessment’ project, funded by the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation. The primary goal of the RONDA project was to develop a data-driven framework, pattern recognition techniques, and low-cost sensor technologies for the detection, classification, and georeferencing of roadway pavement surface anomalies. Within this context, the project utilized a real-life transport network (in Cyprus) to study roadway infrastructure and to offer a low-cost, participatory-sensing integrated hardware/software platform for the sustainable management of this network. UCY operates several equipment and software platforms related to the project (e.g., probe-vehicle with already installed sensors, servers, DBMS, software development platforms, etc.).
P1

Geoimaging (GEO)

will primarily contribute to the system architecture design and implementation, especially with regard to geographical information systems (GIS), data integration, and application development. Also, GEO will contribute to the development of the PAVE-SCAN decision support system (WP7) and in the GIS-driven post-processing activities of WP7. Finally, in collaboration with the other partners, GEO will contribute to the development and implementation of the pilot studies (WP8) and to the capacity-building activities of the project (WP9). GEO offers professional solutions in ICT and geoinformatics and has participated in more than 30 national and international RTDI projects. In addition, GEO was awarded the EUREKA Label (three times) from the EC and was also the Winner of the European Satellite Navigation Competition, ESNC 2017 – Madrid Challenge known as the ‘Galileo Masters’ for the LARA (LBS Augmented Reality Assistive System for Utilities Infrastructure Management through Galileo and EGNOS) project (funded by the EC, under the Horizon 2020 programme).

P2

SignalgeneriX (SGX)

will primarily lead the WPs related to functional requirements and system architecture (WP2) and to hardware development (WP3). Further to contributing to the definition of user needs, use cases, user requirements, functional specifications, certifications study, and hardware needs in the context of WP2, SGX will, in the context of WP3, design, develop and evaluate the EGNSS-compliant sensor and hub devices, and manufacture multiple devices for the pilot studies. Finally, SGX will contribute to the system integration (WP5), the pilot integration (WP7), and to exploitation and commercialization (WP8). SGX is a privately-owned innovative research and development SME, operating in the field of digital signal processing and communications, and serving as an expert provider of innovative digital technologies for a wide network of clients and collaborators throughout Europe. The company has successfully completed several FP6/7, H2020, and national projects with a total budget exceeding 150M euro. SGX’s work has been acknowledged with various innovation awards including the European Satellite Navigation Competition, ESNC 2017 – Madrid Challenge known as the ‘Galileo Masters’ for the LARA (LBS Augmented Reality Assistive System for Utilities Infrastructure Management through Galileo and EGNOS) project (European project funded by the European Commission, under Horizon 2020 programme). SGX will utilise on the PAVE-SCAN its core labs (DSP Lab; Wireless Sensor Lab; Software Development Lab; Electronics Lab; Hardware Design Lab; Electronic Assembly & Re-works Lab; Product Design & 3D Printing Lab; Mechanical Prototyping Lab).
P3

ELECTI Consulting Limited (ELEC)

a privately-owned Technology Consulting SME operating in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Cryptography, and Blockchain. ELEC will lead WP4 which comprises the software development effort of the project and will contribute to WP2. In WP3, ELEC will be responsible for the development of the AI module for anomaly detection, computer vision for object (faces, registration plates, pavement defects, etc.) detection, clustering, and analysis of Lidar data. Furthermore, ELEC will coordinate the timely development and delivery of the PAVE-SCAN platform, PMS, DSS and AR application. For WP2, ELEC will collaborate with all technical consortium partners on the formulation of the system’s functional requirements and the design of the architecture with an emphasis on data capture, ingestion, ETL, and DBMS/back-end infrastructure. ELEC has significant experience in R&D, with several successful national.

P4

Nicosia Public Transport Services and Operations LTD

(NPT) is the public-transport operator for Nicosia (Cyprus). The company currently operates a fleet of modern, clean Euro6 engine buses, equipped with 5G WiFi.  The company operates around 50 bus routes across the city, covering a total distance of approximately 500 km per day. The bus services offered by the Nicosia Public Transport company are frequent and reliable, with buses running every 15-20 minutes during peak hours. Further to several bus-related nationally funded projects, NPT is collaborating with the Malta and Spain bus operators partnering in the PAVE-SCAN project and applied-research collaborations with UCY on transport informatics (real-time monitoring of bus operations and route optimization, digital ticketing, etc.). NPT will take the lead role on WP7, spearheading the pilot implementation of the PAVE-SCAN technology and the ‘living labs’ assessment of such technology.
P5

The Lefkosia Municipality (LEF)

is the local government authority responsible for the administration of the city of Nicosia (the capital of Cyprus). The municipality is committed to improving the quality of life for its residents and visitors and has undertaken a number of initiatives and projects to achieve this goal. One of the key initiatives of LEF is the Horizon 2020 Teaming ‘CYENS Centre of Excellence (CoE)’ project, which is aimed at transforming the city into a smart, sustainable and liveable urban environment. LEF will provide the consortium with applied knowledge on how the roadway network in study operates, and on best practices in relation to roadway management. Further, LEF will assist in data collection, technology integration and pavement management systems, in the operation of the pilot study in Cyprus, as well as in capacity building.
P6

The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH)

will lead WP6, focusing on the role, involvement, and engagement of citizens in the pavement condition assessment process, as well as in the data provision. Further, AUTH will lead the legal framework task (T2.7), which will incorporate the state-of-the-art legislations and frameworks, regarding sustainability and safety, to system architecture, software, hardware, and user requirements. Finally, AUTH will contribute to WP4, with technical skills regarding the development of AI software modules, the PAVE-SCAN Web-GIS & dashboards, the visualisation, and AR module, and the DSS and PMS. 
P7

STAM SRL (STAM)

is an Italian engineering SME providing engineering and consulting services in several sectors (e.g., security and transport, space and defence, automation and robotics, energy and environment). The firm serves a broad range of industries, public and private companies, research organisations, non-profit agencies, with a large part of STAM’s activities related to security aspects of infrastructures and public spaces, modelling and simulation of crowd behaviour, risk assessment and decision-support platforms for the protection of infrastructures. The expertise of the company also includes the development of mobile and web applications for BIM-based asset management, shared and green mobility. STAM has been deeply involved in projects in the transport, safety and security fields, and in the energy field. Finally, further to being a key member of several clusters and institutions (e.g.  START 4.0, the Italian Competence Centre for the Security and Optimization of Strategic Infrastructures; AIAD, the Italian industries federation for aerospace, defence and security), STAM has also developed significant R&D experience, with several successful EU projects since FP4.
P8

Azienda Mobilità e Trasporti S.p.A. (AMT)

is the mobility company owned by the City of Genoa, the capital and biggest city in the Liguria Region (northern western Italy) with 575.600 inhabitants. AMT is in charge of providing public transport to Genoa, Liguria chief town. By a multi-modal transport system, counting over 130 million transfers per year covering 27 million kilometres, AMT suits the Genoese transport requirements best. The multi-modal system is granted by different means of transport: buses, trolley buses, a subway, funicular railways, a cog railway, a narrow-gauge railway, an urban ferryboats, and on-call services. AMT will work closely with STAM as well as the other partner municipalities and bus operators, on WP7 (pilot implementation, ‘living labs’), while also contributing to the consortium’s dissemination and commercialization actions. AMT’s related past activities include funded projects by the Civitas, FP5, Life, and CitySCAPE programmes. 
P9

Malta Public Transport Services (Operations) LTD (MPT)

is the main public transport operator in Malta, providing bus services across the island. The company is committed to providing safe, reliable, and sustainable transport services to its passengers, while also promoting sustainable mobility and reducing its environmental impact. As part of its commitment to sustainability and innovative transport solutions, MPT has undertaken a number of initiatives and projects under the Horizon 2020 program, such as the introduction of a fleet of electric buses, the development of a new bus network that provides faster and more reliable services, the promotion of cycling and walking, and the introduction of a bike-sharing scheme. MPT will work closely with NPT and ALSA on WP7 (pilot implementation, ‘living labs’), and contribute to the consortium’s dissemination and commercialization actions.
P10

ALSA Grupo SLU (ALSA)

is a Spanish transportation company that operates a wide range of public transport services, including bus, coach, and tram services, both in Spain and internationally. The company is committed to providing safe, reliable, and sustainable transport services to its passengers, while also promoting innovation and technological advancement in the transport industry. In addition to the introduction of low-emission buses, ALSA Grupo SLU has also implemented a number of measures to promote sustainable mobility, such as the development of a new bus network that provides faster and more reliable services, the promotion of cycling and walking, and the introduction of a bike-sharing scheme. ALSA will work closely with NPT and the other bus operators on WP7 (pilot implementation, ‘living labs’), and contribute to the project dissemination and commercialization actions.
P11

The Transport Department, City Administration of Tallinn, Estonia (TALN)

will not only serve as one of the project’s ‘Living labs’ but, as an advanced user of related technologies, will help in the integration of PAVE-SCAN with such other platforms. Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia with a population of about 440K, is a pioneer city in open innovation. As a true e-Society, Tallinn offers a platform for international socio-economic innovations. In urban mobility context for example: (a) Parcel delivery robots are legally allowed on the streets (2017), (b) self-driving cars are legally allowed on the streets (2017). The next piloting phase of self-driving busses (last mile solution in an urban context) started in the summer 2019 (projects SOHJOA and FABULOUS); (c) Ride-sharing is legalised and properly taxed (2016-2017). Tallinn City has in recent years won several awards, such as (1) the Quality Certificate “Best Practice” (2012) for the Public Services Database, an award given by the European Institute of Public Administration; (2) 2nd prize (20217) in the European Commission’s competition of European Capital of Innovation; and (3) several awards (2007-2010, 2013) by the Intelligent Community Forum as the one of 7 most innovative cities in the world. TALN’s related past activities include funded projects by the CitySCAPE, Central Baltic, and Baltic Sea programmes.
P12

Brimatech Research gGmbH (BRIR)

is a technology-based company that specialises in research, development, and innovation in the field of geomatics and spatial data analysis. The company has extensive experience working on projects funded by the European Union, including projects funded by the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (EUSPA), providing expertise and support in the development of innovative solutions and applications that make use of global navigation satellite systems. These projects have included the development of advanced positioning and navigation systems for use in the transport and logistics sectors, the development of precision agriculture solutions that make use of satellite data, and the development of emergency response systems that use satellite technology to provide accurate location information in emergency situations. BRIR will lead the consortium’s commercialization, DMP and IPR management actions, helping bring the PAVE-SCAN product to market (WP8). BRIR has developed significant experience in R&D, with several successful EU projects.
P13