Due to the economic crisis and the accelerated globalization, innovation and competitiveness are increasingly gaining importance in the public debate as well as regarding R&D strategies. In the transport sector, this inevitably leads towards a long term perspective concerning innovation and research as decisions of today that are relevant for this field will have significant implications for future performances.
Against this background, the main objective of this project is to assess the influences of future challenges, of demand drivers, and of upcoming innovations on the competitiveness of the European transport sector as a basis for the development of strategic options for transport-related research activities. The project will highlight what future challenges and demand drivers could have a considerable impact on the global demand patterns in the passenger and in the freight sector and how this might affect the competitiveness of related industries and service providers.
The project will:
- Develop a better understanding of the present competitiveness of the European transport sector as well as an analytical framework that will allow for an assessment of competitiveness in future worlds
- Provide an assessment of external factors that will influence future demand patterns in the transport sector and relate it to the concept of competitiveness
- Assess the potential impacts of upcoming innovations and related challenges / barriers on the competitiveness of the European transport sector
- Identify plausible future challenges to the competitiveness of the EU transport sector based on scenario analyses
- Develop options for European research strategies related to the transport sector
The main task of ITAS will be a close look at innovations in the transport sector that are expected to become relevant in the time horizon of the year 2030 and beyond. ITAS will also analyze global challenges and demand drivers in the passenger transport sector, taking the co-evolution of supply and demand into explicit focus. Finally, ITAS will frame scenarios to describe possible futures of the European transport sector. Furthermore, ITAS will contribute to concepts and methods for the measurement of innovation and competitiveness.
Project website: www.futre.eu
