IRU supports the objectives set out in the European Union Data Act but urges for “voluntary sharing of data” between parties to boost trust and unlock the potential of data-driven innovation in the road transport sector.
This week the European Commission published the Data Act proposal, which aims to provide a harmonised framework for data sharing across the European Union. This is the last horizontal building block of the Commission's data strategy.
IRU welcomes the Data Act proposal as it has the potential to unleash the value of the EU data economy. However, it needs to focus more on incentivising data sharing and building trust through voluntary data-sharing mechanisms rather than imposing strict obligations on parties at this very early stage of developing Europe’s data economy.
In the transport, logistics and mobility sectors, innovation relies increasingly on the processing and exchange of large amounts of personal and non-personal data between multiple actors. In addition, innovative solutions in goods and passenger transport such as connected vehicles, smart cities and digital platforms have led to an increase in the use of generated data. We know how crucial data is to gain more insights on customers, routes or vehicle loads, as well as how commercially sensitive such data can be.