Online press office boosts transport sector
With the emergence of new technologies, energy-efficient advances and environmental requirements, the transport sector is evolving at a very rapid rate. A virtual platform for knowledge exchange could help stakeholders in the industry benefit from all the exciting new solutions proposed. This was the purpose of the EU-funded project PRESS4TRANSPORT. The project gathered experts in journalism and surface transport from Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands and Portugal to establish a virtual press office (VPO) for 117 European sustainable surface transport (SST) projects. The user-friendly platform was designed to help disseminate project results, news and events to major media outlets, producing 80 press releases, over 60 articles and six newsletters. PRESS4TRANSPORT also organised two international events and participated in around 50 others from all over Europe to further its ambitious aims. Most of the innovative and exciting project results were disseminated through newspapers, magazines, trade journals, websites, portals and blogs to targeted stakeholder groups. In particular, the platform delivered cutting-edge developments and innovative project results related to logistics, rail, road and maritime transport at national, regional and European levels. To achieve its aims, the project team analysed media coverage of relevant SST topics, identifying strengths and weaknesses in media coverage. It then formulated guidelines and recommendations on disseminating SST project results more effectively through the different media channels. Overall, the team of scientists, journalists and communication experts built a powerful new tool to enhance the media visibility of SST results. It created a portal enabling project leaders to publish their results, helping journalists to update their knowledge, and attracting stakeholders in search of the latest information on related subjects. Exciting topics such as electric vehicle technology, innovative urban transport, sustainable mobility and environmental aspects of transport are all featured on the site. This bodes well for small and medium-sized companies in the industry that want to upgrade their products or form new synergies. The European transport industry is now prepared better than ever to deliver innovations and solutions that will upgrade transport and keep the sector competitive.
