This proposal describes a series of activities that will support the successful delivery of the TRA conference in Dublin in 2024. A consortium has been assembled that addresses all the key requirements of the call: • They represent the key transport modes with at least 2 partners active in road, rail, waterborne, aviation and cross-modal. • The partners are all active in European research and have the reach to promote the conference across Europe. • The partners have a long history of delivering high quality researcher competitions where Europe’s research leaders are recognised. The partners will work with key stakeholders to ensure the conference themes support European policies. The proposal also has the full support of the Irish Minister for Transport and this will ensure the full support of relevant Irish agencies. The partners will work together to deliver a conference that builds on the success of previous TRA conferences and provide a forum that will allow the key actors in the transport sector come together to develop solutions for society’s needs.

DT4GS is aimed at delivering an “Open Digital Twin Framework” for both shipping companies and the broader waterborne industry actors to tap into new opportunities made available through the use of Digital Twins(DTs). The project will enable shipping stakeholders to embrace the full spectrum of DT innovations to support smart green shipping in the upgrade of existing ships and new vessels. DT4GS will cover the full ship lifecycle by embracing federation of DT applications as well as utilising DTLF policies and related shared-dataspace developments for the sector. DT4GS applications will focus on shipping companies but will also provide decarbonisation decision-support system for shipyards, equipment manufacturers, port authorities and operators, river commissions, classification societies, energy companies and transport/corridor infrastructure companies. DT4GS’s objectives are to: 1. Support shipping companies in achieving up to 20% reduction in CO2e with a 2026 horizon, by developing and deploying real-time configurable DTs for ship and fleet operational performance optimisation in 4 Living Labs involving shipping companies, with different vessel types, and establishing fully validated industry services for Green Shipping Operational Optimisation DTs expected to be adopted by 1000+ ships by 2030. 2. Establish a comprehensive zero-emission shipping methodology and support Virtual Testbed and Decision Support Systems that address both new builds and retrofits comprising: a. A DT4GS (Green Shipping) Dataspace for the broader shipping sector contributing to GAIA-X by establishing a core European industry resource that accelerates the green and digital transition of waterborne shipping and transport value chains. b. Simulation based solutions to retrofit ships, targeting 55% reduced CO2e reduction by 2030. c. A smart green “new-build” reference design per vessel type. d. Virtual Testbed services for reducing the cost of physical testing of GS solutions by 20%.

Considering the diversity of the waterborne transport sector, its geographical scope, the international dimension and the challenges and opportunities upfront, LASTING will broaden engagement of the broader waterborne transport sector in European RD&I activities, by developing a communication strategy, and implementing a long-lasting communication campaign beyond the lifetime of this project, ultimately increasing, stakeholder engagement in the sector and thereby increasing impact of European waterborne transport RD&I. The communication strategy, and thereby the campaign will be based on clear KPI’s set at the starting point of LASTING, jointly developed with the relevant European Commission Services and the broader waterborne transport sector. The achievement of the KPI’s will be measured at fixed intervals, to ensure that the final communication strategy and the campaign will be fit-for-purpose and ready for roll-out. An essential element of the communication strategy will be the development of a plug-and-play system for participation in European, national or regional strategic maritime and/or inland waterway transport events. In the framework of LASTING, the plug-and-play system will be tested at a number of occasions, to ensure the system is fit-for-purpose. In addition, high quality dissemination materials (such as flyers and banners) and templates will be delivered. There will be a main focus on the use of digital tools for dissemination purposes, to ensure that the communication efforts of the waterborne transport community will easily follow the concept launched in the framework of LASTING. Finally, yet importantly, the Waterborne TP will take over the communication strategy and campaign after the lifetime of LASTING and will ensure a durable implementation of the concepts and materials developed in the framework of the project.