We are happy to take you to Austria to meet our partner AustriaTech, which acts as the PoDIUM Data Management and Protection Officer, ensuring compliance with data protection laws and to help make the PoDIUM data accessible to a wider audience.
AustriaTech is the Austrian competence centre for mobility transformation and is an agency owned by the federal government. In order to create a future-proof and sustainable transport and mobility system, AustriaTech’s activities focus on the digitalisation and transformation of mobility through cooperation and partnerships with Austrian and European infrastructure operators, mobility service providers, industry, research institutions and authorities.
The Role of the Data Manager & Protection Officer
A Data Manager and Data Protection Officer focuses on the overall management and governance of data within a project and is specifically responsible for compliance with data protection laws, privacy protection and the management of risks associated with the processing of personal data. In PoDIUM, this role creates a comprehensive approach to data management and protection.
In general, an effective data management contributes to the quality and integrity of data and also helps to create a smooth project execution by ensuring accurate information, following the principle ‘as open as possible, as closed as necessary’.
PoDIUM Data Management Plan
In PoDIUM, a data management plan was developed and submitted as Deliverable D1.4. The document contains a set of guidelines, description of the project data and data management tools for accessing and using the PoDIUM data for research purposes. It also ensures that the data is made findable, accessible, interoperable and re-useable (FAIR). Data privacy and security issues are also addressed in the data management plan, which sets out the relevant requirements and applicable standards – it defines procedures for handling personal data to ensure the fundamental rights of citizens and prevent the misuse of the project results. The principle is to be as open as possible and to make all data available, with the exception of data that conflict with the law, commercial interests or intellectual property rights of partners. The data management plan complies with the European Union and international regulations for the management and use of data, and adheres to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
PoDIUM generates and processes different types of data that can be categorised differently. There are technical and evaluation data for technical development and testing and evaluation processes. Another category is user acceptance data, which is collected in questionnaires. Furthermore, internal administrative data is used for management purposes, and data on project outcomes and studies is used for reporting tasks.
In principle, all project deliverables are made publicly available via the PoDIUM website and the EC portal and may be re-used without limitations. However, the results relating to business models and exploitation must not be made publicly available, as this would be contrary to the commercial interests of the partners. In the event that further data on project outcomes and studies conflicts with intellectual property rights or commercial interests of partners, the individual situations will be assessed and any change will be documented in the data management plan.
Ensuring Data Protection
Concerning data protection, the project activities will adhere to the Helsinki Declaration and the Ethics of Information and Communication Technologies report (2012) from the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies to the EC and will conform to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. No personal data will be collected from questionnaire participants, only information on their opinions and attitudes towards the use of the proposed demonstrated services and towards CCAM in general. Generally, only anonymised data will be exploited at project level, and the data to be processed will be relevant and limited to the purposes of the project.
AustriaTech in PoDIUM
AustriaTech is involved in several important areas of the PoDIUM project. AustriaTech not only leads the creation of the data management plan, but is also responsible for liaising and collaborating on the project. AustriaTech is also involved in defining the requirements of the PoDIUM use cases, focusing especially on the definition of requirements and specifications for data provision and CCAM messages, a task led by AustriaTech. In the definition of the PoDIUM platform architecture, AustriaTech leads the elaboration of a functional view of the PoDIUM architecture. In addition to these highlights, AustriaTech contributes its expertise with C-ITS and the perspective of public stakeholders to the PoDIUM project, including in the areas of technical development and evaluation.
In addition to PoDIUM, AustriaTech is involved in various other, thematically related projects such as C-Roads, DATA4PT and NAPCORE. AustriaTech is coordinator of the C-Roads Platform and acts as the national contact point for mobility data in Austria. Participation in the PoDIUM project is now a further step on the road to a digitalised mobility.