Finland

Interviewees

Antti Permala, VTT

Jari Gröhn, Ministry of Transport and Communications

Helena Vänskä, Ministry of Transport and Communications

Steering Committee Representative

Jari Gröhn, Ministry of Transport and Communications

Links

Ministry of Transport and Communications

The Ministry of Transport and Communications undertakes the development of the national transport research. The Finnish national intermodal transport research and transport policy is closely linked to the policy of the European Commission. The Ministry of Transport and Communications launched in 1997 the TETRA programme (1997-2000) focusing on transport and telematics and the KETJU programme (1998-2002) dealing with intermodal issues.

The Finnish port policy is a part of the regional policy. A report published in 1998 states that some of the main obstacles for improved used of intermodal transport in the ports are the lack of transfer equipment and infrastructure capacity for handling unitised goods. The only two inland terminals serving intermodal transport are placed in Helsinki and Oulu. Other terminals handle ITUs but have no regular dedicated train service for intermodal transport.
 
The KETJU programme (www.ketju-ohjelma.fi) seeks to develop Finnish expertise related to the intermodal transport chain. Finland already has some globally significant equipment manufacturers. The programme address the logistics related industry, the provision of services, the use of services, research and training, transfer equipment and EDI. A mid-term evaluation of the KETJU and TETRA programmes has been published in English (Ministry of Transport and Communications, publications 32/2000). In three years 40 projects were launched and 50 organisations participated. 

A new logistics research programme has been created to follow up on the KETJU activities. The objectives of the new programme are to help companies to take advantage of the new possibilities offered by information and communication technologies. The programme will focus on the strategic implementation of new operations models in logistic processes, on application of new control principles and possibilities for ERP systems, and on adaptation of material handling and transport systems according to the new requirements.

The TETRA programme (www.vtt.fi/rte/projects/tetra) was divided in nine project areas covering traffic management and information systems, fleet management systems, development of ITS systems for SMEs, system architecture and standardisation. The objective was to promote the creation of interoperable ITS systems covering all modes of transport by developing the required basic ITS infrastructure and information systems. Several demonstration projects have been launched and links have been made to the VIKING project supported by the TEN-T, especially on freight and fleet management.

FITS (Finnish Intelligent Transport Systems) is the follow up on TETRA with the objective to facilitate the establishment of telematic services in private and public sector, to invest in politically important areas on transport telematics and to foster Finnish know-how. Of areas relevant to EUTP can be mentioned; Tracking and tracing of deliveries and Telematics in terminals.

The Ministry enhance the Finnish participation in European research projects through financial support to the preparation of proposals (5 KEURO for a partner and 10 KEURO for a co-ordinator) with the precondition that the proposal is ranked eligible for financing. The ministry is responsible for more than half of the Finnish national co-financing in Commission funded transport research projects. Other co-financiers of transport research include road, rail and maritime administrations, other ministries, and research institutes (e.g. VTT). The Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications consider improved information exchange and access to research results as some of the most important issues to be dealt with in relation to European transport research at present.