As coordinator of the SMARTIN project, ERTICO is leading a collaborative effort to transform how transport infrastructure is managed across Europe. Drawing on its extensive network across industry, public authorities and research institutions, ERTICO steers the project's overall coordination, dissemination and standardisation activities, ensuring that SMARTIN's innovations reach and resonate with the right audiences and feed into relevant European and international standards.
At the heart of this effort lies a strong co-creation approach, which actively involves local stakeholders across all pilots to ensure that SMARTIN’s digital solutions are shaped by real needs, operational contexts and user perspectives from the outset.
Putting co-creation at the heart of innovation
Funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe, SMARTIN brings together 17 partners from 8 countries to develop smart and data-driven digital solutions for multimodal, accessible and resilient urban transport infrastructure, demonstrated across four European pilots: Barcelona, Budapest, Latvia and Turin.
What sets SMARTIN apart is not just the sophistication of its technical solutions, but the way they are developed. The project champions a co-creation methodology that ensures innovation is grounded in real operational needs, local policy priorities and user experiences. At the core of this approach is a multi-layered stakeholder ecosystem that actively connects local users, public authorities, transport operators, researchers, industry and civil society organisations.
SMARTIN has now entered its 10th month, with all four pilots actively engaged in the co-creation phase and early activities already proving their value. In Barcelona, a workshop with city authorities, the shared-bike operator and cycling advocacy groups helped refine the pilot's focus on safety in shared urban space. In Budapest, initial meetings with vessel operators and boat masters have already generated valuable operational insights ahead of a broader stakeholder workshop. In Latvia, pilot leaders are working closely with the road transport authority to develop a data-driven optimisation tool for regional bus and rail services. In Turin, partners are working with the public transport authority, the City of Turin and the Traffic Control Centre to test dynamic lane management, navigating real-world regulatory and infrastructure constraints.
Across all pilots, insights from these engagement activities are being systematically fed back into the project, ensuring that technical developments remain closely aligned with operational realities and local needs.
From co-creation to implementation: reflections at the General Assembly
On 30–31 March 2026, SMARTIN partners gathered at ERTICO's offices in Brussels for the project's second General Assembly. A highlight of the meeting was a dedicated cross-pilot workshop focused on turning co-creation outcomes into concrete implementation steps.
The session invited participants to reflect on their co-creation journey – what worked well, what challenges emerged, and whether initial pilot needs have evolved. Using interactive tools, partners shared insights in real time, creating a productive exchange across the consortium. The workshop then shifted to the practical dimension: how can co-creation outputs actually support implementation? Which data and insights are most useful? Are the right stakeholders involved going forward?
Crucially, the session also created space to look across pilots, to spot connections, exchange lessons learned and explore collaboration opportunities between cities facing similar challenges. The result was a more aligned consortium, with each pilot better prepared for the next phase.
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