Did you know that a flurry of activity starts around a ship as soon as it arrives in port? Cargo is loaded and unloaded, any required maintenance work is carried out, and the ship’s basic needs – such as waste management, fuel and provisions – are taken care of. For passenger ships, the disembarking of both passengers and vehicles must also be coordinated alongside all these other activities. But what happens at the port when a ship is late?

If a ship arrives five hours late at a different location than agreed, operators face multiple challenges. Schedule data has not previously been available in real time from a single source. Instead, it has been provided to all of the various operators by phone, in messages, and through several different systems. Port Activity is an app that has been developed to solve this problem. It seeks to improve information flow between the various stakeholders operating at ports, in order to enable the most efficient and economical port visits possible.

Ingredients for international cooperation

More than ten Finnish ports have already signed up to use Port Activity, and it is also being used in Sweden. The Baltic Sea is one of the world’s busiest shipping areas, with more than 2,500 vessels on the move around the clock. Every year, 17 per cent of all global maritime transport passes through its ports. The aim is to encourage other countries around the Baltic Sea to start using the app, before sailing on into global waters.

Port operators’ schedule data in one place

The real-time sharing of schedule data boosts the efficiency of the entire logistics chain. The app collects schedule data on the port’s various stakeholders from a number of different systems in real time and then collates it in one place. It informs users of any potential schedule changes. This enables everyone to keep fully abreast of the situation, so they can plan their own schedules accordingly.

The app works both ways, meaning that not only the ship but also other users can report their schedule information in real time. For example, if a waste management vehicle has broken down on the way and its replacement will be a little late, others will be able to prepare for this.

App can be customised for each port

Port Activity is an open source app, which means that ports can customise it to meet their own needs in cooperation with their chosen development partner. This will help promote internationalisation, as although port operations are often fairly similar the world over, there are national requirements that can be taken into account in the app. Ports have already been actively developing the service. An SaaS-based version of the app that is already in use in Finland is now scheduled to be launched in Sweden during autumn 2021.

A mobile and desktop version of the port app have been created, making it easy to use both in the office and in the field. The results of the pilot project indicated that it was the right time to go digital.

“Phones are the most important tools for many port operators. It was therefore important for the app to be as easy to use as possible on mobile devices. Now you can check, edit and inform others about schedule data with just a couple of clicks,” says Soininen.

Fintraffic VTS’ mission is not only to improve the safety of shipping, but also to promote smooth and efficient vessel traffic. Port Activity is a good example of a service in which these smoothness and efficiency goals can be mobilised on a broad front with the aid of evolving digitalisation.

Read the full article and learn more at fintraffic.fi

Image: fintraffic.fi from the original article

Tietoevry Create, the global business design and software engineering arm of Tietoevry, has agreed to partner with HaleyTek, a joint venture between Volvo Cars and ECARX, to develop an Android Open Source Project-based infotainment system for current and future Polestar and Volvo car models. The companies will focus on developing the platform software that enables a smooth in-car audio experience. This brings the power of Android to cars – introducing openness, customization, and scale to automotive infotainment systems and head units.

Tietoevry Create now supports HaleyTek with Android OS audio architecture design, implementation, integration and test automation, as well as with developing wireless connectivity over Bluetooth.

“We have been working with Android for mobile devices since 2011. When we started to look at the automotive version in 2017, we quickly saw the potential it had for our customers,” says Emmanuel Maillard, Vice-President, Automotive Software at Tietoevry Create. “We’re delighted to help HaleyTek bring a high-end automotive platform to current and future Polestar and Volvo car models. Our shared goal is to provide drivers and passengers with an outstanding in-car infotainment experience.”

“At HaleyTek we’re developing a common Android-ready infotainment platform for several OEMs within the Geely group. A big part of this task was to ramp up the right competence to help us achieve the top-notch quality expected from our products,” says Jorge Jara, Engineering Manager at HaleyTek. “We looked all around Europe for the best engineers to support us. This is how we found the talented automotive team at Tietoevry Create, now a key partner in developing the top-quality next-generation technology our customers deserve in upcoming vehicles.”

Read the full article and learn more at Tietoevry.com

For more information, please contact:

Tietoevry Newsdesk, news@tietoevry.com, +358 40 570 4072

The UN COP27 climate conference in Egypt is looking for solutions to speed up the implementation of the Paris climate agreement and keep the 1.5°C target still within reach. Solutions of Fintraffic´s Vessel Traffic Services are strongly present in the Green Shipping climate project demonstrating at the meeting the means to reduce climate emissions. Fintraffic’s digitalisation projects have already reduced sea transport emissions in Finland.

Maritime transport management solutions will feature strongly in the Green Shipping Climate Challenge, which will showcase ways to reduce climate emissions from shipping at the conference. Fintraffic’s maritime traffic management digitalisation projects have already helped to cut emissions from maritime transport in Finland.

More than 40 countries, ports and companies participated in the Green Shipping launch of the Climate Change Conference, bringing their own innovations and developments supporting greener meritime transport to the Green Shipping Challenge. From Finland, four different entities participated in the Green Shipping Challenge, two of which were Fintraffic’s flagship projects on sustainable development and digitalisation in maritime traffic management.

The projects presented at Fintraffic’s Maritime Traffic Management Green Shipping Challenge were the Port Call Time Stamp and Estimation Service & Port Activity application, implemented in collaboration with domestic companies Awake.ai and Unikie.
Virtual Port Arrival concept is promoted with Siili Solutions in the context of the NEMO project.

The original news is on the fintraffic.fi website

Read more
United States Department of State: https://www.state.gov/launch-of-the-green-shipping-challenge-at-cop27/
and green ship challenge https://greenshippingchallenge.org/

Photo: Unplash, Roger Hoyles

Finland-based smart electric vehicle charging heavyweight, Virta, has officially launched on the Australian market with the unveil of the first superfast EV charger it is rolling out in partnership with Australia’s Tetris Energy.

The partnership combines Virta’s platform, Tetris Energy’s development and funding capability and the superfast charging hardware from Kempower – also a Finnish company.

Smart EV charging, honed in Europe Some of the features of the Virta smart charging platform include bi-directional charging capability to allow V2G (Vehicle to Grid) charging, smart charging optimisation and demand management, and automated invoicing and platform management.

“Virta is enabling the technologies for state-of-the-art smart charging and energy optimisation with experience from the fastest growing e-mobility markets in Europe to allow fast growth of Australian players in the industry.”

-Virta CBO and co-founder Elias Pöyry

Read the original story from thedriven.io how Virta is helping Australian partners launch a future-proof electric vehicle charging business.

Image: thedriven.io from the original article

The European Innovation Scoreboard 2022 slots Finland second behind Sweden in terms of innovation performance, with both countries earning the status of an innovation leader.

Sweden and Finland were both dubbed innovation leaders in the scoreboard, performing at a rate that is almost 136 per cent of the EU average. The former edged out the latter for the top spot by 0.2 percentage points with a rate of 135.7 per cent.

Finland stands out favourably in the comparison due to strengths such as lifelong learning, public-private co-publications and collaboration between small and medium enterprise. Indeed, Finland’s performance is increasing at a rate higher than the EU as a whole, and enjoys a faster growing economy and higher per capita income when compared with the bloc.

Business process innovators, sales of innovative products and broadband penetration have increased noticeably in Finland since last year. There is still room for improvement, however. The likes of resource productivity, government support for business R&D, non-R&D innovation expenditures, medium and high-tech goods exports and population with tertiary education in Finland were all flagged as relative weaknesses.

Elsewhere, Denmark (134.8%), the Netherlands (129.3%) and Belgium (128.8%) earned the status of an innovation leader for outperforming the average by at least 25 per cent. Overall, the scoreboard reveals that innovation performance in the 27-country bloc has improved by about 10 per cent since 2021, with 19 members registering an improvement and eight a decline in performance.

While Australia, Canada, Korea and the US continue to outperform the EU, the bloc has closed the gap to its global competitors and overtaken Japan since 2021.

“Europe’s autonomy and competitiveness will depend on our capacity to become a technological and commercial leader in strategic areas such as space, defence, hydrogen, batteries, chips, quantum and high-performance computing,” stated Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market.

The EU’s innovation agenda, support schemes for startups and small and medium enterprises, industrial alliances, and important projects of common interest are already yielding innovative projects across the continent.

“This is how we translate our scientific excellence into technological and industrial leadership, and quality jobs in Europe,” said Breton.

Article is originally published on Good News from Finland page.

Image: (Header photo from Collaboration between small and medium enterprises, such as at Turku’s SHIFT Business Festival, is one of Finland’s innovative strengths. Image: SHIFT Business Festival).

The LIFT Future Aerospace Centre has started its operation in Finland at the beginning of September. LIFT will bring together actors from the private, public and R&D sectors to create new aviation innovations in response to the growing demand.

At this point, the partners joining the innovation cluster with the host organisation Redstone AERO Oy include VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk) and the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute FGI. The cooperation is aimed at strengthening research, development and innovation collaboration (RDI) in future aviation, while supporting the emergence of new business within the field in Finland.

Redstone AERO has built a future aerospace research centre at the Helsinki-East Aerodrome, which will provide the facilities for the RDI needs. This will contribute building a strong innovation ecosystem together with relevant partners.

The innovation cluster for future aviation brings together the industry professionals

The new research centre celebrated its opening on 1 September at the Tech Runway event, which was held in Pyhtää for the third time. The Tech Runway conference and expo brought together altogether 300 aviation professionals. In addition to the LIFT members, this year the other key partners of the event were the Association of Finnish Defence and Aerospace Industries – AFDA and Saab. There were also plenty of people representing the authorities and government, such as the police, the Finnish Defence Forces and the Finnish Border Guard, to discuss the changed security situation in Europe.

“VTT sees the role of unmanned aviation growing rapidly worldwide. Finland must seize these revolutionary opportunities and aim for a pioneering role. At the now established LIFT Research Centre, VTT’s RDI focus areas include urban air mobility, the development of airspace management for unmanned aviation, drone swarms and the increased autonomy of the solutions,” says Hannu Karvonen, Senior Scientist at VTT.

VTT advances the same themes in the EU’s SESAR 3 joint undertaking. The LIFT cluster is planned to function as a home base for bringing together Finnish actors in the industry for EU-level networks and development projects.

Rapid increase in the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS)

This year, unmanned aviation has been in the public eye particularly because such equipment has been used by authorities and for defence purposes. Future developments in the industry will be very interesting in this respect, and LIFT welcomes various actors to join the co-creation efforts.

“The use of UAS in civil solutions and applications for authorities has grown rapidly. However, increasing the use on a large scale will not be possible before the operations of unmanned aviation can be safely integrated with traditional manned aviation. Finland has excellent opportunities and competence to join the development of this future industry,” says Tomi Oravasaari, a professional pilot and pioneer in drone research, who acts as the Director of the RDI unit of NELI (North European Logistics Institute) at Xamk.

“The LIFT Future Aerospace Centre will further strengthen the sector and RDI, as the aerodrome environment is transforming into an excellent testbed, providing an improved framework for the activities,” Oravasaari says. “The LIFT network cooperation and the aerodrome environment provide excellent support for Xamk’s applied research, which develops methods for coordinating current manned aviation and drone flight operations in a safety-oriented manner and creates practical solutions for long-distance drone flights between various airports. This paves the way for the emergence of commercial solutions for drone logistics, among other things,” adds Oravasaari.

The aviation sector is currently undergoing a major transformation. New technologies, the coronavirus epidemic and international sanctions have had an extensive impact on the whole sector in recent years. There are hundreds of organisations involved in aviation in Finland. However, the broad scope of the sector is not generally known.

“One of the key competence areas of the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI) is spatial data research related to drones, which plays a key role in the development of autonomous and low-emission aviation applications of the future. In research, we are developing more efficient, accurate and reliable methods for both localisation and navigation of drones and data analysis than we have today,” says Research Professor Eija Honkavaara from the FGI. The National Land Survey of Finland also carries out significant mapping, aerial photography and laser scanning activities, with both its own equipment and through commissioning the data acquisition from consultants. Each year, a total of ten different aircraft are used for collecting the National Land Survey’s mapping data. “The LIFT Research Centre will now open up unprecedented opportunities for RDI activities in the field,” says Honkavaara.

The role of Helsinki-East Aerodrome is growing

The Helsinki-East Aerodrome area is developing into not only the second airport in Helsinki and the Southern Finland region but also a prototype for efficiently operating a new kind of an aerodrome. “Future air traffic and on-demand transport services will need a much denser airport network than we have today. At LIFT, we are developing a concept that allows airports to be planned, built, licensed and operated more efficiently than before. We call the new model by the name digital airport,” says Esa Korjula, Chairman of the Board of Redstone AERO, the company operating the Helsinki-East Aerodrome.

Article is originally published on VTT news.

Image:  VTT

Further information:

Hannu Karvonen, Senior Scientist, Project Manager and Ecosystem Lead for Autonomous Systems, VTT, +358 400 216 396, firstname.lastname@vtt.fi

Tomi Oravasaari, Director of the RDI Unit, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk), +358 44 702 8289, firstname.lastname@xamk.fi

Eija Honkavaara, Research Professor, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute FGI, + 358 29 531 4716, firstname.lastname@nls.fi

Esa Korjula, Chairman of the Board, Redstone AERO Oy, + 358 40 041 4115, firstname.lastname@redstone.aero

JET Charge will supply 42 Kempower C-Stations along the new EV highway in Western Australia. Stretching for more than 5,300 kilometers, the project is one of the world’s longest single EV infrastructure projects. Once the EV highway is completed, drivers will be able to access 98 EV chargers spread across 49 locations, at no more than 200km apart.

The EV highway is part of the McGowan Government’s AU$21 million Electric Vehicle Fund and delivers on the State Electric Vehicle Action Plan for Western Australia. The State Government is delivering the highway through its’ energy utilities Synergy and Horizon Power. Stretching from Kununurra in the north to Albany in the south and Eucla in the east, the project will see a range of EV chargers installed at locations across Western Australia, including metropolitan and regional sites, as well as into the outback.

Read the original news published on kempower.com to learn why JET Charge chose Kempower as their partner.