In the eFTI4EU project, Finland has been a very active developer of the eFTI reference implementation and the national eFTI Gate implementation. Such activities in the eFTI Gate development created a solid foundation for the pilots. Finland has planned a total of 6 pilots for the eFTI4EU project. The first of these was the eFTI PoC, which was already carried out during 2023.
Finland Pilot
The other pilots cover road, air and maritime transport modes, and with these pilots Finland wants to ensure the scalability and interoperability of eFTI. In addition, one pilot focuses on real time economy and supply chain business processes and how these can impact on eFTI. The final pilot is the large company pilot which intended to test multimodal transport in an international context.
Transport mode: Road
eFTI PoC
An eFTI PoC (Proof of Concept) was the first Finnish eFTI pilot. The eFTI PoC was built to demonstrate eFTI data exchange between economic operator (EO), eFTI Gate and the competent authority (CA). The PoC was planned together with Finnish authorities and it covered demonstration of key eFTI modules: eFTI Platform, eFTI Gate and CA user interface. The PoC did not engage real logistics operators and it was not integrated into CA systems, but CAs participated in defining the requirements and scoping of the PoC.
Objectives
The main target of the PoC was to support and launch Finnish national eFTI implementation and to provide demonstration about eFTI data exchange. PoC was used to make analysis about strengths and weaknesses of eFTI system also from IT security point of view. In addition to technical PoC, the pilot included several stakeholder interviews and knowledge sharing, which were used to gather more information for the future eFTI implementation.
Technical components
- Transport data/eCMR, which demonstrated economic operator (EO) systems.
- eFTI platform, which worked as data gateway between EO and competent authority (CA).
- eFTI Gate/APP, which included CA user interface from where CA was able to make search for the system.
- GUI developed for servers 1 (EO) and 3 (Gate + CA app).
Status
Pilot was fully executed during the year 2023
Transport mode: Air, Road
IATA OneRecord and eAWB – eFTI
In Europe a lot of air cargo is handled with trucks after those have arrived from outside Europe. These cases work to transfer information from one standard to another. In this pilot aim is to check how similar eFTI and air cargo standards are and how to convert information from one to another so that it will smooth the data processing in this area.
Objectives
- To ensure interoperability between IATA One Record and eFTI
Technical components
- Data converter from IATA One Record / eAWB to eFTI data model
Status
Planning of the pilot was started in summer 2024, during the autumn 2024 pilot mapping between IATA One record and eFTI data was done. Aim is to finalize the data mapping during the spring 2025 and then move to piloting and validation.
Transport mode: Maritime
Maritime Single window (eMSW) – eFTI pilot
eMSW and eFTI are quite similar considering their basic nature. Also, on both regulations, the data sets contain some of similar data. Indeed, based on initial research there are more than 100 similar data fields. In this pilot, the aim is to find processes that can be integrated from eMSW and eFTI, resulting in a smooth date exchange, and as such benefits to both process parties.
Objectives
- Test and validate compatibility, similarities and synergy with eMSW and eFTI.
- Seek benefit of eMSW and eFTI sharing data and study what it means to authorities.
Technical components
- eFTI platform (TBD)
- eFTI Gate (Fintraffic)
- eMSW (Fintraffic)
Status
Planning of the pilot will be started during the spring 2025, which will be followed by piloting and validation. Planning, piloting and validation can be done in an agile methods, since Fintraffic is hosting both systems in Finland.
Transport mode: Road
Real time economy (RTE) – eFTI
RTE and eFTI together can provide more benefits and create a bigger value chain for users. RTE focus is on procurement and invoicing processes, which are core functions of each business process and supply chains. When the object of procurement is physical goods, the waybill is an essential part of the process from procurement to invoicing. In Finland there will be integration interface for companies. In this pilot, objective is to show the benefits of digital process, not only transportation but whole supply chain process.
Objectives
- Avoid value chain fragmentation.
- Improve companies’ digital capabilities.
- Support transformation of moving towards fully digital information handling, which improves profitability that is also main targets of eFTI.
Technical components
- eFTI platform (TBD)
- eFTI Gate (Fintraffic)
- AAP PoC (Fintraffic)
Status
Planning phase of the pilot was done during the second half of 2024. Also, development was started during the 2024 and piloting and validation is expected to be done during the first half of 2025.
Transport mode: Maritime, Road
Large company multimodal and multi country pilot
Piloting eFTI in a real case pilot with a large production company. Initial idea is to test this with steel or forest industry, which represent significant export sectors in Finland.
Objectives
- See how eFTI will work on large company supply chain process and find the value for large company. Test case will be multimodal and multi Member State.
- International eFTI data exchange and gate to gate communication. International interoperability.
Technical components
- eFTI platform separately or integrated with existing ERP system.
- eFTI gate (Fintraffic) and communication between gates.
- Competent Authority
Status
Planning of the pilot and collaboration discussions were started at the end of 2024. During the Q1 development phase will be started, so that piloting and validation can be executed during 2025 and beginning of 2026.
Transport mode: Road
Small company road pilot
Aim is to pilot end to end eFTI data exchange in collaboration with SME road carrier, eCMR service provider, eFTI platform service provider, national eFTI Gate and Competent authority. Special focus is given on SME road carrier systems how they can provide data from their operative systems and how eFTI platform to eFTI Gate interface will work with certain identification and certification processes. Purpose of the pilot is to focus on basic processes and not to test most challenging use cases and several consignment combinations. The aim is to focus on common data set, and how it can be shared between EO and CA by utilising eFTI data exchange system.
Objectives
Test end to end eFTI data exchange system and basic features of eFTI Gate. In addition, the aim is do data mapping with small company and to test how SME road carrier can produce eFTI data. Subobjective is also to analyse how eFTI can provide a real value for companies and especially for SME companies.
Technical components
- SME road carrier – Flowertrucks, eCMR platform – iToDEV, eFTI platform – Vediafi, eFTI gate – Fintraffic national eFTI Gate, AAP PoC – Finnish Customs
Status
Pilot planning was started after the summer 2024. Planning and design phase ends in January 2025, when pilot will move on development phase. Development phase will be short, since pilot is planned to continue old pilot, which was originally executed during the summer 2024. Aim is to do all piloting and validation during the Q2 and beginning of Q3 2025.
