Solving traffic congestions with the latest technology

Gatt said that Malta has experienced several smart infrastructures implementation through Private Public Partnership (PPP).

The smart grid project being used by the Enemalta and the Water Services Corporation continues to expose Malta on an international level, Gatt said, adding that such projects “can be a contributor to the EC agenda on Future Internet especially when one of the EC objectives is to identify environments where innovative applications have been deployed and can be replicated in other countries.”

Gatt also mulled over the idea of similar ambitious plans for the transport sector. Gatt said that transportation planners struggle to understand traffic flows, “because we lack robust means to collect traffic data, analyse and model it in real time... There is big potential in the collection of timely information to aid in route planning which will help to reduce traffic congestion, lower fuel consumption and help users avoid accidents."

The Future Internet Public Private Partnership is funding a programme launched by the European Commission to address the need for developing open ICT solution that can host applications with high user interactivity. The PPP will support the areas of healthcare, environment, content, traffic management and utilities – “all of which have a direct impact on the daily life of our citizens,” Gatt said.