LEAD STORY ➜ goals”. First objective: “We want vibrant economies”, followed by “Climate neutral cities” and “Integral communities”. In order to achieve these goals, he highlighted, among other things, a platform for electric mobility. Ivo Cré stressed that charging means parking – and by the same analogy, parking chaos is followed by charging chaos. To avoid this, several policies should be im- plemented. According to POLIS, open road network data, including parking data, is nec- essary to optimise smart mobility solutions. Ultimately, the success of cities is not just a question of energy. “We have to combine several layers,” says Ivo Cré. This is why PO- LIS has a new motto: “Go local!” Much of this also has an impact on parking and can even create new local jobs. The EPA Manifesto Theo Thuis, Chair of EPA’s Scientific Commit- tee, spoke of “The EPA Manifesto” as “an in- clusive process to (re)present the parking sector at EU level”. The renowned parking expert made it clear that EPA represents not only the private sector but also public authorities. Against this background, the co- operation with POLIS, which represents the public side, is important when it comes to “re- shaping urban space” (in- cidentally the title of EPA’s 21st European Parking Confer- Theo Thuis ence & Exhibition on 17-18 September 2025 in Brussels, see p. 24). On the other hand, public representatives now recognise that the parking industry “is no longer the prob- lem – we are part of the solutions”, said Theo Thuis. But these solutions are not ‘one size fits all’: There are differences between north, south, east and west, and also between small and large cities, Thuis noted. The EPA manifesto aims to draw attention to the fact that parking is an industry with 500,000 pro- fessionals and an estimated turnover of 38 billion euros. Interactive panel session: Data sharing The planned interactive panel ses- sion turned out to be truly inter- active, as the audience actively participated in the discussion with the panellists: • Kristof Almasy, Policy Officer, Internet of things, EU Com- mission DG CNECT • Timo Hoffmann, General Secretary of NAPCORE / German Federal Highway Research (BASt) Institute • Nigel Williams, EPA President & Chair of the Alliance for Parking Data Standards (AP- DS) • Maurizio Locatelli, EPA Digital- isation & Data WG member, Chair of APDS Advisory Council To get the discussion going, EPA’s Tom Anto- nissen started with the statement: “Like it or not: a parking data space will come.” Nigel Williams affirmed this but promised: “We want to keep it as simple as possible.” Timo Hoffmann explained that National Access Points (NAPs) should become a one-stop- shop for operators in all member states in- cluding Norway an Switzerland. “Only if travel data is available, added value services can be provided”, Hoffmann said. With EPA, POLIS and ERTICO – ITS Europe, NAPCORE sits at one table for “very constructive, though not always easy, discussions” – and Hoffmann added: “The need for data ex- change is here to stay.” At the start of the session, Krist- of Almasy outlined the frame- work, status and strategy of the planned European Mobili- ty Data Space (EMDS). The mission is to ensure a simpli- fied, clear and coherent legal framework for data exchange. Re- cently, 45 European partners have deployed a working technical infra- structure for EMDS in nine Europe- an cities and regions, focusing on urban mobility use cases. Kristof Almasy Timo Hoffmann Maurizio Locatelli, who is deeply involved in the data is- sue at Interparking, explained: “We are at a crossroads. And our data is sensitive. There is a lot of work to be done”. In the open discussion, delegates from several countries raised data-related questions such as trust, security, business cases, legal and technical issues. Former EPA president Lau- rence Bannerman recalled that “the parking sector has historically been very untranspar- ent. So it’s hard to make the opportunities clear”. It is also a question of communica- tion, as Manny Rasores of the British Parking Association (BPA) noted. Others, particularly from Scandinavia, felt that “data sharing is a must”. Nigel Williams summarized: “We will all be obliged to provide and share parking da- ta. It is going to happen.” Much of the practi- cal implementation is about interfaces that translate standards. “We recommend APDS,” said Nigel, pointing out: “Trust within the sector is absolutely essential!” ■ Panel with (from left) Nigel Williams, Timo Hoffmann, Kristof Almasy, Maurizio Locatelli 12 Parking trend international | no. 4-2024