Smart Connectivity

Smart Connectivity vision was introduced at the Three Seas Virtual Summit in Estonia in 2020. It was an additional contribution on Estonia’s part to help find ways to expand digital components across key infrastructure, which will in turn support new business models and technologies, such as real-time economy management, a renewable friendly smart grid, smart logistics and traffic management. It is about making investments in energy and transport future-proof and improving the competitiveness of the Three Seas (3S) region.

Smart Connectivity is a push to link our energy and transport infrastructure with digital platforms and services that allow for the best management of linked infrastructure. The respective areas concentrate on mobility opportunities arising from digitalisation and Smart Energy, describing the outlook for a greener real-time energy market aimed at prosumers (i.e. consumers and producers in one). Smart energy and smart mobility advances and integration are possible by putting in place the necessary digital enablers – the ability to share and re-use bits and bytes will move our region forward.


Let’s envision!

Let’s envision that in the foreseeable future the 3S region, which previously enjoyed only limited interconnectivity, has turned the tables through joint and coordinated efforts in regard to smart connectivity.

The 3S region is a global hotspot for smart mobility and energy innovation, developing and selling solutions around the globe.

The 3S region is one integrated energy area, as well as a vital part of the European energy union. Our energy markets are linked, helping each of the countries in the region to manage its energy demand and supply more efficiently and ensuring energy security without reliance on outside players.

Consumers becoming prosumers

Whether in a village in Poland or a city in Austria, we have active prosumers (i.e. consumers and producers in one) – where there is wind, water or sunshine, there are energy producers feeding the entire region with much-needed clean energy. Real-time data flows, and the adoption of smart monitoring and interlinked grids also allows for smarter energy management. This has raised the countries in the 3S region to the very top in rankings of energy use efficiency.

In a similar way, smart transportation corridors cover the whole 3S region. Autonomous and sustainably powered vehicles can traverse the entire region, from north to south or from east to west and back again. This brings with it new mobility services and unlocks multi-modality, which offers more connectivity and saves time and money in return. This is especially visible in freight transport, where goods move from factories via autonomous on-demand vehicles on smart roads or railways to smart logistics centres without labourintensive human work and with no (paper) bureaucracy creating friction in the supply chain. Real-time data flows, while the likes of digital documentation, smart controls and supervision and optimised infrastructure and traffic management make this possible.

As a related outcome, transportation has finally become environmentally friendly – carbonneutral and low in energy use.

Cycle of investment and innovation

In order to fulfill this potential, the Three Seas Initiative needs political will, greater
coordination and alignment between its priority projects. Ultimately, if governed
consistently and sustainably, this coordination should create a virtuous cycle of
investment and innovation, positioning 3S Member States as leaders in the global
digital and green economy.

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