River Information Services: a joint European effort to enhance safety and usability of the inland waterway

In inland shipping, the use of information and communication technology (ICT) is dramatically increasing. ICT is an important instrument for promoting transport over water. It can provide inland shipping with a competitive edge over road transport. In Europe, a concept for harmonised Vessel Traffic Management Information Services to support traffic management in inland navigation has been recently developed under the name of River Information Services (RIS). These services also provide Value Added Information Services and interfaces to other transport modes. This concept has been further detailed in the European INDRIS project, which started in 1998. The INDRIS project started by describing the functions of RIS for all potential users (public authorities and transport industry) and specifying relevant information processes. These information processes are the basis to develop a set of open standards for information exchange among public authorities and inland shipping parties. Standards were defined for content and for communication. Information exchange in RIS is usually between shore and ship. Consequently, the wireless data-communication is used. The standards set in INDRIS have been submitted to the European Commission to achieve a wide acceptance, making use of the forums that are capable to discuss and adopt these standards.