Road and rail managers must maintain their networks to ensure the safety of passengers and the reliability of transport services. The management of earthworks is particularly challenging as many of these assets were constructed prior to modern engineering standards, meaning that earth/rock slopes and embankments are of poor construction quality. More frequent extreme weather events due to climate change are rapidly worsening the situation and increasing the occurrence of earthwork failures. At present, infrastructure managers are forced to make decisions about where to implement remediation works based on disparate information from various data sources, and are constrained by annual budgets. Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions Ltd. has developed an innovative software solution, DETER, which can be used to conduct a risk ranking of earthworks and to support decision making for optimised budget spending to prevent failures along road and rail networks. This is the leading Decision Support Tool available for the management of earthworks that is based on novel scientific algorithms, providing a quantifiable risk assessment for each earthwork asset. The product is at a TRL of 7 as it is currently being used by the national railway operator in Ireland to manage 3,700 earthwork assets. GDG aim to become the leading provider of DETER and intend to commercialise this innovative tool within the European and global markets. To do so, this feasibility study will conduct a detailed market analysis to establish the scale of the market opportunity and to verify that DETER is the leading solution for the management of earthwork assets. The feasibility study will also include a technical review of the compatibility of DETER with existing databases through engagement with infrastructure managers, a review of existing commercial barriers, and the development of a commercialisation strategy for GDG to bring this product to market, resulting in an elaborated business plan for DETER.

The project aims to strengthen EU efforts towards achieving climate neutrality and achieving green energy and environmental targets. SeaDream plays a crucial role in making sure marine energy is utilized sustainably and coastal environments are preserved in line with EU policies. The development of a high-resolution water quality data service at sea is at the core of SeaDream's mission. Data such as these are crucial to addressing specific questions regarding maritime renewable energy generation and storage. The project integrates local monitoring data and advanced modeling through the development, testing, and demonstration of novel downstream information services in an operational mode. As a result of this integration, marine activities related to the generation and storage of energy are improved, and environmental objectives are not compromised. By harnessing advanced data and fostering collaboration across sectors, the project aims to contribute significantly to the EU's environmental and energy targets, promoting a path towards climate neutrality. In order to achieve SeaDream's vision, a coordinated research program that thrives on collaboration is implemented. In this program, leading teams from academic and private sectors are seconded within and outside the EU. Collaborations are enhanced by periodic workshops and summer schools that disseminate the latest findings and promote market-relevant knowledge application. It is designed to foster the advancement of knowledge and career development for both experienced and early career researchers and professionals. To ensure this, secondments and training activities are structured to ensure a comprehensive approach to learning and development. Additionally, the SeaDream consortium includes nonacademic partners from various stakeholder groups, which facilitates direct application of project results.

The GoSAFE RAIL project will be transformative for asset safety in the rail sector. It will bring together inter-disciplinary experts from Risk based asset assessment of infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence (AI), object detection and data management sectors with leaders in network micro-simulation modelling to deliver a Decision Support Tool that will allow a step change for infrastructure safety. The involvement of Infrastructure Managers and Railway Undertakings will ensure the R&D performers have access to data and through collaboration with the Shift2Rail initiative and complementary H2020 projects, access to demonstration sites (a number of preferred tunnel and bridge monitoring locations have already been selected) necessary to develop the tool and a ready market to commercialise it. Through the development of a Network Decision Support Tool the project will provide integrated solutions to issues related to infrastructure safety and planning considering a number of common problems faced by EU infrastructure managers. The project aligns directly with the Shift2Rail (S2R) masterplan and the three technology demonstrator projects in the Intelligent Asset Maintenance pillar (TD 3.6, 3.7 and 3.8). In particular it will address (i) Integration of Open-Linked Data from a range of sources and transformation to allow for direct use in a safety framework incorporating network modeling, (ii) Real-time methods for object detection will be developed and demonstrated, (iii) Analytical models incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms will be developed to predict asset degradation and (iv) The safety framework can be used to plan maintenance and intervention strategies with the lowest whole life cycle cost.

The project provides solutions for common infrastructure problems encountered in diverse regions of Europe, e.g. deterioration and scour damage to bridges, slope instability, damage to switches and crossings and track performance. Whilst similar failure modes are seen around the EU, the triggers (precipitation, earthquake loading etc.) are regional. The DESTination RAIL project will develop management tools based on scientific principles for risk assessment using real performance measurements and other vital data stored in an Information Management System. This will allow for a step-change in the management of European rail infrastructure. The objectives will be achieved through a holistic management tool based on the FACT (Find, Analyse, Classify, Treat) principle. Find - Improved techniques for the assessment of existing assets will be developed. Analyse- Advanced probabilistic models fed by performance statistics and using databases controlled by an information management system. Classify- The performance models will allow a step-change in risk assessment, moving from the current subjective (qualitative) basis to become fundamentally based on quantifiable data. Treat - The impact of proposed remediation or reconstruction will be assessed using the a probabilistic whole life cycle model which includes financial and environmental costs and the impact of work on traffic flow. The FACT principles will be implemented in a holistic decision support tool for infrastructure managers. DESTination RAIL will result significant impact in relation to the objectives of the work programme. It will reduce the cost of investment by using the IMS to manage the network, (ii) Monitoring and real-times analyses will prevent unnecessary line restrictions and closures. (iii) Lower maintenance costs by optimisimg interventions in the life cycle of the asset and (iv) optimise traffic flow in the network.