VIRTUAL CONTROL TOWER FOR SMART CITY LOGISTICS

Whilst cities and regions are developing policies and regulations to make city logistics more sustainable, embedding them in the daily business of the different actors that operate in the urban context remains challenging. Tight regulations may have an adverse effect on economical viability and practical operability.

At the same time a wide variety of sustainable logistics solutions are being developed by multiple market players. But as there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, the true strength of these innovative approaches is in combining the best solutions to offer a seamless single service tailored for each market requirement.

The virtual control tower for smart cities logistics will make city distribution more sustainable by bringing the different interest together in one virtual service platform. Local governments can set up their policies in the platform as a basis for optimized delivery scheduling and route planning by the logistics operators. The logistics operators can link to the platform to plan and select optimal timeslots and city access in line with their customer’s requirements. And local businesses can schedule and route their pickups and deliveries to optimally suite their operations.

Using advanced algorithms, AI and machine learning the platform provides optimized planning. By connecting to the ‘smart city’ through IoT based access control mechanisms it allows to dynamically book time slots and manage urban movements in a diversified way depending on the level of sustainability of the chosen logistics mode. Acting as a neutral platform the virtual control tower creates a level playing field for all operators and other stakeholders whilst ensuring that the set policies and targets are met to the maximum.

Sohlidium-e-llis Cegeka (tbc)

• Cities / regions who want to share their ambitions and approaches in this matter and who want to become pilots for the platform.
• Logistics operators active in this field wanting to become part of the initial pilot platform 
• Other companies / institutes with knowledge or projects that can be complimentary to the project goals