iCargo launches EU-funded framework

   iCargo, a pan-European cargo and logistics project partly funded by the European Union, has officially launched its three-and-a-half-year framework program with the first focus on reducing emissions and facilitating load combining.
   The “Intelligent Cargo in Efficient and Sustainable Global Logistics Operations” project has a goal of improving real-world logistics operations and problem resolution with a focus on the EU, though systems and recommendations can be easily applied elsewhere.
   The project offers research, development, demonstration and dissemination elements all centered on improving logistics. Current work is on lowering CO₂ emissions, synchronizing cross-company operations, and combining loads across all transport modes to reduce the total number freight vehicles in urban traffic environments.
   iCargo builds on prior Freightwise and e-Freight frameworks and said it will develop an open architecture that will allow goods, existing systems, and new applications to communicate and interact in new ways.
   iCargo Coordinator David Quesada said by ensuring extensive distribution of research results, demonstrations and pilot cases, and validations, the results of iCargo will be transferred to the international transport logistics industry immediately after the project. “This will ensure that the value generated by iCargo can be adopted and utilised in the commercial cargo and logistics domain,” he said.
   iCargo is a consortium of 29 European organizations, such as BMT Group, CLECAT, Unilever Research and Development Vlaardingen BV, Deutsche Post DHL, Port of Zeebrugge Authority, and Intellitrans Sweden AB. — Geoff Whiting