Swedish state-private partnership will use advanced IT to secure cities

Controlling the movement of vehicles

The technology on display in Stockholm is capable of controlling the movement of vehicles within a geographic zone where the entry, speed and fuel use of such vehicles can be controlled digitally. The test technology was installed in trucks, buses and cars.

The security-based, purpose-designed IT/geo-fencing system being developed in Sweden is not currently being used by any other country.

In effect, the technology will enforce an invisible digital barrier and will be able to control vehicles fitted with specially designed hardware. It will also have the facility to regulate speeds and even bring vehicles to a complete stop.

Under the proposed system, only vehicles fitted with the geo-fencing technology, or digital boxes, will be allowed access to restricted urban centre areas.

“Geo-fencing is a tangible step toward smart cities,” said Ola Boström, vice-president, research and patents at Veoneer. “As vehicles become autonomous, the technology in them will need to be complemented with geo-fencing infrastructure. This will make the traffic environment safe.”

The project is part of the Swedish government’s ambitious Intelligent Transport Systems national plan, which aims to give traffic authorities the power to implement enhanced security measures to make cities both safer and greener.

Digital and 5G-linked technologies

The pivotal digital and 5G-linked technologies used to develop the IT/geo-fencing system are being generated from a collaboration between Veoneer, Ericsson, Volvo and Scania. The test run in Stockholm demonstrated secure exchange of data between vehicles and digital traffic infrastructure within a geo-fenced traffic zone.

Sweden is shaping its security-based geo-fencing system for the 5G era, when road travel is expected to become even safer and more efficient, and where networks will be capable of automatically prioritising mission-critical communication between intelligent vehicles and infrastructure.

Under this micro-managed traffic environment, geo-fencing zones will be supervised from command centres operated by local authority traffic safety departments (TSDs).

The TSDs will have oversight and full operational responsibility for enforcing rules on vehicles in geo-fencing areas, and will be able to “digitally force” geo-fencing-enabled vehicles in restricted zones to reduce their speed to 30km/h or 10km/h within defined security zones.

By communicating directly with vehicles via GPS, the TSDs will be able to stop them breaking the speed limit. The technology can be applied to both fixed geo-fencing zones or mobile geo-fencing units. The mobile application is expected to be deployed to protect large public gatherings, such as music concerts or major sports events.

“Despite the terrorist attacks we have suffered, we want Stockholm to be an open city that is not peppered with hard fences and concrete barrier walls,” said Daniel Helldén, Stockholm’s transit commissioner. “The integrated IT/geo-fencing solution is the way forward to preventing future terrorist attacks.”

Utilisation of geo-fencing technologies, and particularly the collection and storage of data on the movement of vehicles, will almost require new legislation before the system can be deployed in Sweden.

“We expect to see a gradual transition to the use of geo-fencing,” said the NTA’s Kraft. “There are privacy and data collection issues, and these will need to be addressed by the national parliament in the form of new rules or laws.”

The NTA’s JSG hopes to present a scalable geo-fencing system that will include sophisticated security settings that ensure user privacy protection.