How can we advance interoperability and trust in data exchange? Industry leaders explored this increasingly urgent digitalisation challenge at the second edition of the IRU Technology and Innovation Roundtable, hosted by Daimler Truck.
Over 30 senior representatives from IRU corporate members and partners – including OEMs, logistics operators, shippers, and service providers – came together in Karlsruhe, Germany, for a closed-door meeting centred around data access and exchange.
They discussed how adopting existing standards and trusted data-sharing practices can deliver shared benefits across the value chain.
The discussions were structured around two themes: enabling secure and harmonised in-vehicle data for safe and scalable services; and data access, aligning practice with existing laws and standards.
The themes of interoperability and trust in digital exchange ecosystems emerged throughout the discussion. Participants highlighted ongoing challenges in the industry due to a lack of compatibility between digital solutions.
Within these two overarching themes, IRU presented the latest developments to advance the widespread adoption of eCMR and ensure interoperability.
The Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) covers around 280 million international road transport operations every year. But its digital version, eCMR, is used in less than 1% of operations – despite its clear benefits.
Digital consignment notes are being increasingly used in the automotive, chemicals, retail and horticulture sectors. However, eCMR will only become scalable when shippers, freight forwarders, and operators can work across different eCMR platforms.
Interoperability and trust in data exchange must be rooted in all digitalisation efforts to scale solutions across the road transport industry, which mainly consists of SMEs.
The roundtable was organised in conjunction with an IRU Commission on Innovation and Technology meeting the following day.
Participants from both events came together at a networking cocktail and for a technical site visit to Daimler Truck’s facilities in Karlsruhe.
Interested in learning more about the IRU Technology and Innovation Roundtable and participating in future editions? Contact us.
