Scenario-based testing is necessary as conventional testing and validation approaches would require driving hundreds of millions of test kilometers before new CCAM systems or system updates can be deployed.
Overall objectives for RSA :
-Establishment of an open and sustainable platform to share scenarios
-Generate a wide range of test scenarios for the training, testing and validation of CCAM systems with a focus on urban and rural traffic, for which there is significantly less knowledge on relevant scenarios than for motorway driving.
-Provide significant volumes of raw data or scenarios.
Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) systems have the potential to significantly improve road safety, traffic efficiency, and environmental sustainability. However, before these systems can be widely deployed on public roads, they must be rigorously tested and validated to ensure that they operate safely and reliably in a wide range of real-world conditions. This is especially complex given the diversity of driving environments, road users, weather conditions, and vehicle behaviours. The SYNERGIES project addresses this challenge by creating a European Scenario Dataspace and Marketplace that enables the large-scale validation of CCAM technologies using real, synthetic, and AI-generated driving scenarios. These scenarios are essential for training and testing autonomous vehicles in both virtual and physical environments. At its core, SYNERGIES is building an open, federated, and scalable platform that allows stakeholders across the mobility ecosystem — including vehicle manufacturers (OEMs), authorities, simulation tool providers, infrastructure operators, and researchers — to access, generate, share, and use traffic scenarios in a harmonised and trustworthy way.
Until now, scenario databases have been developed in isolation, often within national or private initiatives, lacking interoperability and common standards. This fragmentation hinders the development and testing of automated driving systems at scale. In response to this need, SYNERGIES provides:
- A federated Scenario Dataspace, integrating existing and new data sources across Europe.
- A Marketplace for tools enabling scenario creation, processing, and enrichment.
- A common framework for ensuring data quality, traceability, and trustworthiness.
- A platform aligned with GDPR, the AI Act, and European standards such as ASAM OpenSCENARIO and ISO 34503.
- Full compatibility with results from previous EU-funded initiatives such as HEADSTART, SUNRISE, L3Pilot, or Hi-Drive.
SYNERGIES directly contributes to the European strategy for data spaces, AI development, and digital mobility ecosystems. It enables the validation of CCAM systems under the upcoming UNECE regulations and Euro NCAP protocols, ensuring that autonomous systems are tested against the full diversity of real-world driving conditions across Europe. The project also supports Open Science practices by promoting transparency, reusability, and reproducibility of research data and methods. A Data Management Plan has been established, in line with GDPR and ethical standards, to govern all datasets handled within the project. Furthermore, SYNERGIES contributes to climate and sustainability goals by promoting virtual testing and simulation-based validation, which can reduce the need for extensive on-road testing and the associated environmental impact.
