Publication

The aim is to boost research and innovation for safe cycling to support the restart of the Vision Zero. The project aimed to understand the reason behind why so few proposals are submitted and to contribute for more relevant proposals to emerge.

A small group at SAFER worked together to make a first analysis regarding the lack of proposals in the FFI program. Then, the project leader had numerous discussion with actors within the relevant area of research to understand the reason behind the unattractiveness of the FFI program. People within academia, industry, consultancy company, institutes and SAFER stakeholders have been interviewed.

A workshop was organised to act as a catalyst to make proposals to emerge. People who have failed was given the opportunity to present and new people interested to contribute.

The project could identify two main contributing factors to explain the lack of applications in the program. First, the content of the FFI program was not well-known. Our activities contribute to increased awareness of the program. Second, the finance model was found to be a huge obstacle to apply. Industrials partners are interested in the research proposal, however, they do not have enough resources internally and the priority is too low. Our recommendation is to decrease the amount of private finance from 50% to 25%. This might be sufficient to commit the industrial partners.