Transforming insurance customer and user experiences 

Within the broader Crédit Agricole Group, Crédit Agricole Assurances is the leading insurer in France. The organization provides comprehensive property and casualty, health, and life insurance solutions. 

Given the competitive nature of the insurance industry, Crédit Agricole Assurances needed to keep looking for ways to improve its business and customer journeys. With that in mind, the organization asked its regional branches for feedback to help guide a transformational initiative. One of the most consistent responses was that these teams wanted a digital solution that would enable them to perform key operations on their own. 

Having identified this as a consistent desire across its regional branches, Crédit Agricole Assurances set out to digitize key transactions – like life insurance payments – in an effort to streamline customer interactions with a new mobile application. The company brought in ��ѻ��ý as a partner, providing access to extensive experience with digital transformations and the industry. 

Rising to the occasion via transformation 

As the partners started collaborating, they identified three phases that would help Crédit Agricole Assurances design a new end-to-end user experience, deliver a new digital solution, and perform a parallel transformation that introduced new ways of working that made digital journey design and build more efficient. Throughout these three areas, the partners also recognized the need to balance regulatory compliance with the delivery of an intuitive, smooth customer journey. Finally, the partners agreed to emphasize measuring the self-service insurance payout rate, which calculated the percentage of supplemental payments processed without agents being involved.  

To address these needs, a project team combining ��ѻ��ý experts and Crédit Agricole Assurances stakeholders launched a bank advisor client experience program called PECC. This collaborative group developed a new life insurance track for the company’s self-care site, which customers can access via their mobile devices and laptops. This also gave bank advisors at regional branches more support options, resulting in a comprehensive update of the entire free payment life insurance journey. 

Throughout this process, a team from frog, a part of ��ѻ��ý, designed a new end-to-end experience for customers and advisors. They focused on ensuring the journey for both groups of users was simple, fluid, and seamless. This meant tracking and animating the new experience within the commercial landscape. 

In addition, ��ѻ��ý needed to ensure that the new solution was supported by broad awareness. Following the delivery of the free payment life insurance application, the team managed a communication and education campaign to inform the relevant audience about the release, its impact, and how to use the new technology. ��ѻ��ý also monitored the solution’s performance to make sure it achieved month-on-month progression and adoption. 

Building on successful momentum 

Since the app’s release, Crédit Agricole Assurances has seen significant improvements in business performance, including a substantial rise in the number of transactions managed through the self-service channel. In particular, digital payment collection has increased by up to 90%. 

Following the rollout of this initial solution, the partners have continued their comprehensive customer experience transformation. ��ѻ��ý and Crédit Agricole Assurances have already started working on a fresh journey for subscription and arbitration, while also making similar plans to support regular payment processes. Meanwhile, ��ѻ��ý has completed the measurement of Crédit Agricole Assurances’ self-service insurance payout rate one year ahead of schedule. 

All of this has contributed to the development of a new manufacturing standard that has accelerated customer support at regional branches. In this way, Crédit Agricole Assurances has demonstrated its industry leadership and provided another clear example of the potential for innovation in this space. Through its commitment to the ongoing development and deployment of new user-centric solutions, the insurance organization will continue to define customer experience excellence in the market. 

Today, a new Gen AI-powered Virtual Coach has given Vodafone Global a valuable tool to help business customers understand and use digital services as effectively as possible. With assistance from ��ѻ��ý Invent, the company has now opened the door to new support options built on innovative technology.

So, what did the journey look like and how did Vodafone end up here?

Gen AI offers a path forward

The Virtual Coach, developed jointly by Vodafone and ��ѻ��ý Invent, is the first of its kind: a Gen AI-based virtual assistant that enhances the use of digital services.

This was made possible through a collaborative effort that brought together Vodafone business leaders and ��ѻ��ý experts to better understand how Gen AI could help improve adoption of new Microsoft digital tools by subject matter expert (SME) and small office/home office (SoHo) customers.

The project team, which included frog, ��ѻ��ý Invent’s reinvention and experience unit, began this engagement by coordinating with Vodafone stakeholders in the Italian, German, and Irish markets to gain a comprehensive understanding of the relevant processes and pain points. This enabled them to map out key workflows while identifying opportunities throughout the customer journey. 

“The proposal from ��ѻ��ý Invent to create a Virtual Coach dedicated to SMEs and SoHo to improve low engagement and adoption of Microsoft tools sold by our services has proven to be a winning suggestion.” 

Alessandro Canzian, Group go to market, Vodafone Business 

Transitioning from research to action

Once they had established a clear understanding of what was holding back customer adoption of Microsoft digital tools, the project team quickly began to build a proof of concept that could demonstrate the solution’s efficacy after an initial round of internal testing. During this process, Vodafone and ��ѻ��ý Invent defined the intended customer journey, high-level architecture, conversational flows, and business rules.

The solution was designed to support any B2B customer’s IT team in the activation and use of the Microsoft 365 suite and related security tools. By introducing the solution on Vodafone’s web and Microsoft Teams channels, ��ѻ��ý Invent ensured a consistent experience throughout the journey.

Launching an extended partnership 

This new Virtual Coach provides Vodafone’s SME and SoHo business customers with a skilled, digital assistant that teaches them how to effectively use the offered Microsoft tools. The solution can adjust this educational experience to fit employee skills and clarify connections between the services available to users and the tasks they need complete.

As testing continues, the company will continue to enhance the solution and redefine the possibilities enabled by Gen AI. Vodafone is now evaluating how best to scale this service to other markets and to keep evolving the innovative solution. The company will review methods for including new Gen AI technology. One option under consideration is the addition of an agentic AI architecture that will introduce even more potent customer support capabilities.

Working with ��ѻ��ý Invent, Telco companies can determine the direct value that Gen AI can provide to their customers by expanding the understanding, adoption, engagement, and use of Microsoft tools, all while ensuring personal and business data security. This will in turn expand those organizations’ capabilities while substantially improving customer service and the overall experience when engaging with Vodafone.   

Protection designed for today’s working world

��ѻ��ý is a global leader and its 350,000 people are increasingly mobile, meaning they require secure access to their data anywhere, any time, and on their ��ѻ��ý or client supplied devices. However, with cyber threats continually increasing in severity and frequency, resulting in expanding compliance requirements, maintaining this flexible employee IT at scale is complex.

Enter Zero Trust – and its three core principles:

• Never trust, always verify: every connection attempt should be authenticated and authorized.
• Assume breach: always operate under the assumption that a breach has already occurred, and design systems to limit its impact and detect anomalies early.
• Least privilege: Users and applications should only be granted the minimum amount of access to perform their jobs effectively. No more, no less.

From ��ѻ��ý’s perspective, it practices what it preaches: the concept of providing borderless security across the entire enterprise is at the heart of its Zero Trust strategy. It not only embodies this across the Group but also enables clients to benefit from the same approach.

So, how did it come to be?

The Zero Trust program

In response to the Group’s expanding cybersecurity needs, ��ѻ��ý’s IT and cybersecurity teams created and implemented the Zero Trust program to deliver a number of critical enhancements.

This began with an upgrade to the existing IT infrastructure, to support greater robustness and agility. In addition, security was increased to protect even more effectively against evolving threats. As a part of this process, ��ѻ��ý also simplified its network architecture.

Throughout this project, the team maintained a constant focus on ensuring a better user experience. This required rigorously managing third-party access and supporting all devices used by company employees worldwide.

Zero Trust wasn’t just about securing IT systems – instead, it transformed how ��ѻ��ý’s entire organization operates, connects, and protects information. This was made possible through:

• Consistent identity data management through a single identity stream for seamless, accurate identity verification.
• Passwordless access control for an enhanced user experience, mitigating the threat of credential theft and making secure access effortless and fast.
• Full visibility and security achieved by monitoring every application, workload and device, giving ��ѻ��ý a comprehensive view of its IT ecosystem.
• Enhanced, standardized client connectivity.
• Micro-segmentation to isolate and protect system-to-system communications, minimizing potential vulnerabilities.

Finally, the IT and cybersecurity teams introduced context-based access policies that analyzed identity and behavior to assess user risk in real time. This approach also included steps to ensure that every device meets ��ѻ��ý’s high security standards. The new access policies took into account workload sensitivity so that adaptations could be made based on data sensitivity.

Partnership and the future

The IT and cybersecurity teams worked closely with ��ѻ��ý’s partners to deploy best-in-class solutions, providing secure application and internet access while managing identity and authentication with advanced risk assessment. This also ensures cutting-edge endpoint protection and streamlines device management for ��ѻ��ý’s globally distributed teams. Additionally, ��ѻ��ý now fully supports micro-segmentation.

This program stands as one of the most ambitious and complex internal cybersecurity and operational IT transformations in ��ѻ��ý’s history.

“By successfully implementing Zero Trust at this scale within our own organization, we’ve built unmatched expertise—enabling us to lead and accelerate similar transformations for our clients with even greater confidence and hands-on experience. We are actively partnering with numerous clients to fast-track their own Zero Trust journeys,” Sudhir Reddy, ��ѻ��ý Group CIO confirms.

This project strengthened cyber resilience across all layers of the organization while enabling secure and seamless working for a mobile global workforce. Moreover, it helped ��ѻ��ý adopt a future-ready cybersecurity posture that aligned with global standards.

With Zero Trust now embedded into its core infrastructure and culture, ��ѻ��ý is better equipped to navigate the cybersecurity challenges of today and those on the horizon. The learnings, frameworks, and architecture developed through this initiative will continue to inform and elevate future engagements and deployments.

“A firewall with a hole is no longer a defence—it’s an invitation. At ��ѻ��ý, our adoption of Zero Trust Architecture has transformed how we secure our digital landscape. By eliminating implicit trust and verifying every access, we’ve not only strengthened our cybersecurity posture but also enhanced user experience, operational agility, and scalability. This is how we lead in a world where resilience is non-negotiable.”

Sudhir Reddy, ��ѻ��ý Group CIO

“Trust is no longer by default — it’s a decision. Zero Trust architecture makes that decision intelligent, dynamic, and secure in a world without borders where digital confidence is a key business enabler. At ��ѻ��ý, we ensure secure access across hybrid environments without compromising agility, while minimizing attack surfaces and lateral movement risks. In today’s threat landscape, under relentless regulatory pressure, Zero Trust is not just our strategy – it’s the backbone of our cyber resilience.”

Marjorie Bordes, Group CISO, ��ѻ��ý

This UK-based premium merchandiser has three peak seasons, which include Summer Sale, Black Friday, and Christmas. During these periods, sales and foot traffic are five times higher, making it extremely important for the company’s infrastructure and personnel to meet the increased demand during this time and avoid any supply chain hiccups.

Facilitating a seamless fix-before-fail strategy with ADMnext

��ѻ��ý implemented its Peak Monitoring Dashboard (PMD), which applies advanced algorithms to identify anomalies. This dashboard is a comprehensive, one-stop shop solution that is designed to monitor all key applications and servers. Its user-friendly interface offers a crystal-clear picture of overall systems health.

“The dashboard added a lot to our peak-season monitoring this year. The team has always been very proactive in peak reporting. I liked the fact that I could check it myself for real time information at any time, and I believe this is still the case throughout the year.”

Partner and Service Lead

To arrive at this solution, ��ѻ��ý conducted bi-weekly sessions with teams to identify manual reporting and monitoring challenges during peak periods. These pain points were addressed through automation and visualized via dashboards aligned with business goals. Proactive risk mitigation and strong team collaboration helped ensure a seamless rollout, which meant minimal disruption to ongoing operations.

By providing 24/7 monitoring, this dashboard delivered hyper-efficient support by enabling the merchandiser to immediately identify active and potential disruptions. As a result, the company could transition from manual, decentralized reporting to proactive, centralized interventions. Additionally, the interactive graphical interface, which also uses historical data, now provides continuous insights into server health during peak times.

The dashboard reduced incident detection time from an average of 17 minutes to under two minutes. Manual monitoring effort was cut by 70%, allowing IT resources to focus on strategic initiatives and maintain engagement cost efficiency without compromising on delivery quality. Trend analytics identified recurring spikes in server latency, up to 28%, during promotional launches.Furthermore, ��ѻ��ý’s expertise ensured that the partners could leverage insights from the detailed analysis of historical data to identify trends and bottlenecks faced during periods of elevated demand. This helped the merchandiser make informed decisions and ensure optimal performance for future peaks. The teams’ understanding of the PMD’s value and prompt engagement enabled swift resolution of queries and successful implementation.

Furthermore, ��ѻ��ý’s expertise ensured that the partners could leverage insights from the detailed analysis of historical data to identify trends and bottlenecks faced during periods of elevated demand. This helped the merchandiser make informed decisions and ensure optimal performance for future peaks. The teams’ understanding of the PMD’s value and prompt engagement enabled swift resolution of queries and successful implementation.

Seamless IT system performance during peak seasons

With the PMD in place, the company had access to a single-window, round-the-clock monitoring system for key applications that reduced the number of tickets by 7.92% during peak seasons. In addition, the dashboard accelerated the move to a well-structured, real-time, single-view, proactive reporting model. High-severity incidents dropped from 88 to 67 year-over-year. Customer complaints during peak periods decreased by 21%. Average page load time improved from 5.6 to 2.1 seconds.

This mobile enablement work is in-flight and has already shown promising results. Push notifications alert teams to anomalies within 30 seconds of detection. Mobile-enabled alerts will help reduce average incident mitigation time from 23 minutes to just seven minutes, a 70% improvement. The retailer aims to reduce business loss due to system outages by up to 50% over the next fiscal year.

Building on the recent success, the merchandiser and ��ѻ��ý are now extending their collaboration by transitioning the dashboard into a mobile environment. This is expected to provide client teams with real-time, on-the-go access to analytics. The result: faster, proactive mitigation of business loss and service risks during system outages.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has a strategic vision to be a trusted, modern tax and customs department and is constantly looking for new ways of harnessing and optimizing digital technologies to maximize tax collection, continuously improve user experience, launch new services, and deliver savings and efficiency for the nation.

With this in mind, HMRC asked ��ѻ��ý to collaborate on a bespoke program of innovation aimed at addressing some of the department’s transformational and business problems. A variety of co-created solutions were demonstrated at the department’s first Innovation Summit in 2023, inspiring an even more ambitious Innovation Festival the following year. The events were designed to help inspire fresh ways of problem-solving, demonstrate the importance of innovation at every level of the organization, and collectively showcase the art of the possible.

Innovation Summit 2023: Building the foundations

The department’s first Innovation Summit followed a 12-week process to showcase cutting-edge innovations, highlight a scalable process, and demonstrate the strength of industry partnerships by delivering three proofs of concept. The goal was to spark meaningful high-value discussions with senior leaders by posing tactical design challenges and reframing HMRC’s future vision through tangible experiences.

To do this, small, agile, multi-disciplinary teams were formed, in which HMRC’s IT, business, and commercial experts worked with ��ѻ��ý’s technical, innovation, and industry specialists to identify key business problems and areas of opportunity that would be most valuable to tackle over the 12-week period.

��ѻ��ý’s global innovation platform, the Applied Innovation Exchange (AIE), provided the framework to ideate, experiment, co-create, and explore emerging technologies, while deep industry insight from its tax and customs experts helped to contextualize the ideas.

The work culminated in an interactive virtual event co-designed and facilitated by ��ѻ��ý’s Accelerated Solutions Environment (ASE) and delivered to over 100 HMRC leaders. State-of-the-art live broadcasting technology – including green-screens, high-definition streaming, and merged realities – aimed to enhance efficiency and maximize audience engagement. The concepts were co-presented through real-world demonstrators to drive audience interaction. For example, participants adopted customer personas to highlight the benefits of how AI could transform existing user experiences.

Innovation Festival 2024: Empowering teams to challenge the norm

The Innovation Festival 2024 followed a similar process but on a much larger scale. A broader and more senior audience was invited to explore problems that are rooted in the department’s strategic priorities to close the tax gap, improve customer service, and modernize and reform the UK’s tax and customs system.

The joint teams again used leading edge collaboration tools and the latest design-thinking methods to brainstorm over 50 initial ideas in a hybrid working environment. These ideas were prioritized and voted upon to select opportunity areas that best aligned to HMRC’s business objectives. Through a series of interactive workshops, 30 unique concepts were co-created and validated to identify three to build as functional prototypes.

To maximize the relevance of the ideas, it was important to understand the user perspectives. To that end, the project team conducted research interviews and co-creation workshops with taxpayers, startups, software providers, and gig platforms. Each idea was sponsored by an HMRC business expert to ensure alignment with the department’s strategic goals, and with the aim of driving long-term impact and value.

Weeks of joint planning went into the event design, and the result was a series of six inspiring and impactful sessions, broadcast live over the course of three days from ��ѻ��ý’s remote delivery capability, enabling each of the sessions to be attended by over 300 HMRC stakeholders, including HMRC’s CEO and members of its Executive Committee.

Imaginative ideas for how the future might look for the tax authority were brought to life through a mixture of interactive demonstrations – like live Gen AI prototypes, panel discussions, Q&A sessions, and live presentations – helping to create a fully immersive experience for the audience. This “show, not tell” approach helped senior leaders engage with abstract concepts in a tangible way, igniting practical conversations about future possibilities.

Inspiring a culture of innovative thinking

This collaboration created an ideal environment and provided the right tools and ways of working to rapidly drive idea generation. Stakeholders, including front-line staff from different parts of HMRC’s organization, were given a unique opportunity to play a key role in the creative process from the outset.

��ѻ��ý’s expertise in design thinking, innovation frameworks, and co-creation, combined with insights from emerging technologies and cross-industry experience, enabled rapid discoveries and breakthrough solutions. This approach not only showcased the transformative power of innovation but also demonstrated how industry partnerships can ignite lasting cultural change within large organizations.

When a healthcare company acquired another organization in the industry, it inherited two legacy systems that each possessed a distinct chart of accounts (COA) structure. This lack of standardization meant that each operating unit had its own primary ledger, which resulted in finance reporting challenges. In addition, both of these systems maintained vendor master data independently.

In order to effectively manage and integrate the newly acquired business into the larger group, the company set out to introduce standard data management and reporting processes. However, doing so while simultaneously avoiding major disruptions to ongoing operations required a high degree of technical knowledge and expertise. To gain access to the necessary skill sets and improve its ability to perform such a transformation quickly and smoothly, the healthcare company partnered with ��ѻ��ý based on its extensive background of success with similar projects.

Unifying distinct financial processes

To launch the collaboration, the project performed a thorough review of the existing processes and technologies at the company and the acquired business. Based on the conclusions of this examination, ��ѻ��ý then proposed an approach to ledger consolidation that would develop a standard approach for the entire organization.

This began with the creation of a new COA structure that aligned with the company’s business model while more effectively enabling future growth. Meanwhile, the project team consolidated the various ledgers from across the healthcare organization and the acquired business into a single version, ensuring all transactions would be recorded and tracked through a single platform. As part of this standardization, ��ѻ��ý

migrated open transactions for accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), and fixed assets (FA). This included replacing the company’s existing financial and procurement modules with Oracle Fusion Cloud.

In an additional effort to address redundancies, the project team cleansed supplier data and introduced a unified reporting system. In doing so, ��ѻ��ý ensured that the healthcare company could streamline its processes and have confidence in the knowledge that teams all over the world followed the same approach to ledger and data management.

An approach for the present and future

By the end of a fast-paced project, ��ѻ��ý delivered a fresh, standardized process that aligned the company with its acquired businesses. Doing so streamlined a variety of processes and made financial reporting substantially easier. As a result, the company saw a global improvement to its efficiency while gaining expanded visibility into its financial operations.

By working closely with key stakeholders from the healthcare company, ��ѻ��ý enabled the business to address the immediate concerns related to the acquisition while simultaneously preparing the organization for future growth. With standardized processes and technology in place, the company is more ready than ever before to strike while the iron’s hot and take advantage of any and all successes.

A leading steel producer in the United States recognized the need to upgrade its database infrastructure and reporting systems to enhance data performance, security, and business intelligence capabilities.

A leading steel producer in the United States recognized the need to upgrade its database infrastructure and reporting systems to enhance data performance, security, and business intelligence capabilities.

Partnering with ��ѻ��ý, the company launched a project to improve the capabilities of its database infrastructure and adjust its reporting system.

After reviewing the organization’s objectives and the solutions available, the partners decided to perform a strategic upgrade to Oracle Database 19c and implement a robust Power BI reporting solution. To do so, the company and ��ѻ��ý formed a single, cohesive team that could coordinate regularly to bring their shared experience to bear.

Following a dual approach

��ѻ��ý swiftly deployed a team of database administration and Power BI experts, who collaborated with the steel producer’s stakeholders to develop a project roadmap and design a scalable solution. This collaborative team created a plan for the database upgrade that would enable extensive replication using the Oracle Golden Gate solution. In addition, ��ѻ��ý used Power BI to create a reporting platform and rapidly developed a standardized template approach for faster development and adoption by users. Once the project team gained approval for this plan, they executed the upgrade and implemented the tailored Power BI system.

This dual approach modernized the company’s database infrastructure while enhancing its business intelligence and reporting capabilities. The solution was specifically adapted to cater to the unique needs of the steel production industry. This was done by adopting a model-based approach to ensure that users would have the ability to modify reports as needed and create local versions to suit a variety of requirements.

Enhanced performance, security, and insightful decision-making

With the integration of Oracle Database 19c, the company and ��ѻ��ý have combined data engineering with Power BI to provide users with the data needed to make decisions more efficiently. The upgraded infrastructure now aligns with the latest industry standards, offering enhanced performance, security, and scalability. The Power BI reporting system makes data replication near instant while offering a data platform that grants users access to reports to transform the company’s approach to business intelligence and enable real-time insights that drive strategic decisions.

To do so, Oracle Database 19c manages large volumes of data while ensuring a high degree of security. Meanwhile, Power BI seamlessly connects to the Oracle Database to access and retrieve data. In order to visualize data more effectively, the solution generates interactive dashboards and reports that offer real-time insights that guide informed business decisions. This input informs operational strategies, creating a feedback loop for ongoing refinement.

This integration enables the company to leverage real-time data for strategic decisions while maintaining a robust and secure data infrastructure. As the steel producer continues to harness these advancements, it is well-positioned for sustained growth and innovation in the competitive steel industry, with ��ѻ��ý as a key partner in its ongoing technological journey.

As demand for wind turbines continues to rise amid the global energy transition, Germany’s road infrastructure is increasingly strained by the transport of heavy-duty equipment. To address this challenge, an alternative logistics solution was needed. The Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute, in collaboration with ��ѻ��ý Invent, is laying the groundwork for increased use of waterways for large-scale and heavy-duty transport. By providing high-quality logistics information as open data, they aim to facilitate more efficient and sustainable transportation.

Enhancing waterway visibility: unlocking potential in the energy transition

The international community of states aims to combat climate change and curb global warming, as outlined in the Paris Agreement of 2015. To comply with these goals, the German government plans to add 10,000 megawatts of new wind energy capacity annually by 2030. Achieving this ambitious target within the framework of the German energy transition will require increased use of heavy-duty transport on waterways.

Alongside various modernization and expansion projects, as well as the growing size of ships, this poses a major challenge for waterway infrastructure in Germany. The Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (BAW) is well-equipped to provide expert advice and support to the Federal Ministry for Transport (BMV) and the Waterways and Shipping Administration of the Federal Government (WSV) on new tasks such as accelerating investments, digitization, and the environmentally sound design of waterways.

One of these tasks is the maintenance and expansion of German inland waterways, as well as visualizing their potential as a transportation option. This aspect is becoming increasingly relevant, particularly in light of the energy transition and the shortage of skilled workers in road transport. For example, to avoid approval backlogs in road transport when moving wind turbines, and to reduce climate-damaging emissions, the use of waterways for heavy-duty transport should be increased.

Before the project began, BAW and logistics experts faced three main challenges in shifting heavy-duty transport to inland waterways:

1. Information on heavy-duty transport transshipment points was only available from the respective ports and had to be gathered through tedious efforts by the administration and the transport and logistics industry.
2. Once obtained, this information often lacked uniform data formats and consistent levels of detail, complicating its comparability and usability.
3. Frequently, only outdated information was available, making it difficult for logisticians to fully rely on the data.

By deciding to establish a publicly accessible, centralized, and quality-assured database for all relevant heavy-duty transport transshipment points on German inland waterways, BAW is proactively addressing these challenges and launching a simple, modern data access solution.

After searching for a reliable partner, BAW chose ��ѻ��ý Invent, with whom the institute had previously completed a series of successful joint projects. Under this agreement, the ��ѻ��ý Invent team was tasked with leveraging its many years of industry experience and deep technical expertise in infrastructure management to advise on the project’s concept and implementation.

Evolving from field data collection to a specialized database for heavy-duty transshipment centers

The BAW initially worked in close collaboration with the BMDV, ��ѻ��ý Invent, and various other stakeholders from the road, rail, and water transportation sectors, as well as public administration, to compile the necessary data attributes and develop a data model for their collection.

Subsequently, BAW collaborated with the project team to design a web application that would serve as the foundation for data maintenance and later provision to the professional public. This marked the official launch of the “Fachdatenbank GST-Umschlagstellen.” During the development of the application, a comprehensive requirements and testing management system was established, and the database rollout was communicated through workshops and social media.

For the actual data collection, BAW and ��ѻ��ý Invent chose a collaborative approach: after an initial prequalification, port operators were asked to independently input their data. This not only ensured the highest possible accuracy and expertise in data maintenance but also distributed the burden of data collection across multiple parties and increased the involvement of third-party stakeholders in the project.

The first datasets were published in the summer of 2023, at the conclusion of the initial data collection phase. During this phase, the consulting team and various participants from public administration and associations provided support, particularly during quality assurance. Since then, the specialized database has continued to grow, incorporating additional heavy-duty transshipment points across Germany, while undergoing ongoing development, improvement, and deeper integration with other platforms.

Step-by-step transition to multimodal transport with Open Data

With the publication of the first datasets, the process of obtaining information on heavy-duty transport via waterways has fundamentally changed. Since then, BAW has provided specialists in logistics, administration, and the port industry with high-quality, standardized data that is quickly and permanently accessible. This makes time-consuming individual inquiries to the BMDV a thing of the past.

Through regular data updates, the addition of new transshipment points, and the establishment of a working group supported by ��ѻ��ý Invent, BAW ensures the long-term viability of the specialized database for heavy-duty transshipment points and supports multimodal transport. It receives support from the WSV, which is responsible for professional guidance, particularly in the area of waterway expertise.

By designing the database as a modern open data platform, BAW creates synergies that extend beyond the project’s immediate goals. The integration of data into the WSV’s Electronic Waterway Information Service (ELWIS) and the connection to VEMAGS – the approval system for heavy-duty road transport – demonstrate its versatility. Currently, the data is also being tested and has been included in a pilot project for a wind farm.

Given the urgent need to relieve road transport and the significant potential for greenhouse gas savings through less approval-intensive water transport, there has never been more focus on shifting heavy-duty transport to waterways. BAW and ��ѻ��ý Invent aim to continue building on this momentum and advancing the success story of the Specialized Database for Heavy-Duty Transport Transshipment Points as a key enabler of multimodal transport.

Because one thing is clear: a successful energy transition can only be achieved by considering all modes of transportation together.

“The team at ��ѻ��ý Invent particularly impressed us with its understanding of complex business processes and the management of demanding digital projects. Together, we are demonstrating how we can shape Germany’s waterways as a sustainable alternative for the logistics industry.”

Peter Weinmann
Head of Central Services Department, BAW