We are proud to announce that Kentyou, in collaboration with DataInMotion, has been selected for funding by the Horizon Europe ICOS project. Our upcoming ICOSmart project will focus on enhancing urban intersection safety and efficiency in Jena, Germany, with innovative smart city technologies.

Addressing the Challenge of Smart Intersections

Urban intersections are pivotal in managing city traffic and ensuring road safety. The significance of this challenge cannot be overstated: nearly half of all road accidents in Europe occur at intersections, many resulting in severe injuries or fatalities. Effective management of these intersections not only saves lives but also improves the flow of traffic, reduces congestion, and minimizes environmental impact.

At Kentyou, we have long recognized the critical importance of this issue. Our dedication to enhancing urban mobility and safety has been demonstrated through several other projects and initiatives. Our past projects, such as FedIntersect and Decenter, have laid the groundwork for innovative smart intersection management. More recently, our ongoing AI4Life project has been successfully focusing on deploying intersection management solutions in Istanbul. This award-winning initiative focuses on utilizing AI to optimize traffic flow and enhance safety measures.

Kentyou and Columbia award winning solution for New York city intersection management.

Smart intersections indeed represent a complex challenge that requires a multifaceted approach, leveraging IoT, Edge, and Cloud solutions. Effective management necessitates the interoperability of various devices and systems, alongside advanced AI capabilities to process and analyse vast amounts of data in real time. These technologies collectively enable precise monitoring, prediction, and decision-making, which are essential for improving traffic flow and safety.

Innovation and Partnership for smarter intersections in Jena

Building on our commitment to smart intersections, the ICOS project represents a significant opportunity to address these challenges with cutting-edge solutions. The ICOS project, funded by the European Commission, aims to develop a meta-operating system that seamlessly integrates diverse devices, optimizes service execution, ensures robust security, and fosters an open, adaptable, data-driven environment.

This initiative provided an excellent opportunity for collaboration with key partners and the innovative city of Jena. Together, we aim to leverage our combined expertise and resources to tackle the complex issues of intersection management and urban mobility.

The ICOSmart project will integrate several innovative solutions. Jena’s investment in digitalizing its public services has made it a model city for Smart City and 5G projects. The city has installed a wide array of sensors to connect previously isolated systems such as buses, trams, traffic lights, electrical substations, and environmental sensors. This extensive sensor network provides a robust infrastructure for the ICOSmart project.

Kentyou and Data In Motion working on traffic management and intersection monitoring in Jena City.

DataInMotion utilizes Eclipse sensiNact as a distributed data broker, with Jena running a central instance for centralized access to collected data. IoT devices that cannot directly communicate via protocols like MQTT or LoRaWAN are supported by edge devices running small instances of the broker. Data is collected from traffic cameras, traffic light controllers, intersection signal data, and public transportation units. These setups allow each instance of the broker to be part of the testbed, receiving regular updates.

Based on this infrastructure, Kentyou will deploy its Data Hub and Kentyou Eye urban data hypervisor (both based on top of the open-source Eclipse sensiNact platform) to provide monitoring, prediction, and impact assessment capabilities through an intuitive user interface. This integration will allow us to create a sophisticated, multi-layered solution to improve traffic flow, enhance safety, and support data-driven decision-making in Jena, driving the city towards a smarter, more connected future.

Real-time monitoring for safer intersections

During the ICOSmart project, we will focus on developing and implementing several key components, structured into four main layers:

  • Smart Intersection Testbed: Utilizing Jena’s smart city infrastructure, we will establish a comprehensive test environment.
  • Kentyou Data Hub Layer: This layer will gather, unify, and prepare data for processing, integrating most ICOS components.
  • Kentyou AI Layer: Data processing, correlation, analysis, prediction, and simulations will occur here, incorporating ICOS’s data management components.
  • Kentyou Eye Layer: The user interaction layer featuring data visualization, decision-making support, and impact monitoring tools.
Real time monitoring and decision support for safer urban intersections.

To ensure the effectiveness of our solution, ICOSmart will focus on two main case scenarios:

  • Real-Time Intersection Monitoring: Enhancing situational awareness of traffic and mobility, providing forecasts, and recommending actions for efficient traffic management.
  • Safety Enhancement: Increasing safety for pedestrians and drivers by detecting potentially dangerous situations in a timely manner.

These scenarios are expected to have a substantial impact on urban mobility and safety. By improving traffic flow and reducing accidents, the ICOSmart project aims to make Jena a safer, smarter, and more connected city. The insights and technologies developed through this project will serve as a model for cities across Europe and beyond, driving the broader goal of building smarter and more sustainable urban environments.

Stay tuned for updates on our progress as we work towards making Jena a safer, smarter, and more connected city.