Picture a city as a living organism: always moving, always changing, always producing signals. Every bus arrival, every traffic jam, every cyclist weaving through a junction is a tiny piece of information. Now, imagine if cities could actually read those signals in real time and use them to make everyone’s life smoother, safer, and greener.
That’s the ambition behind EMERALDS, and at its final event held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 13 November 2025, the project showed that this is no longer just ambition, but it’s already happening.
Held at the European Big Data Value Forum, the event highlighted how the project has built a full, deployable ecosystem for urban mobility analytics — one that processes data at extreme scale, operates securely across edge–cloud environments, and turns complex information into clear operational decisions. A new way to monitor road traffic was presented, one without installing new sensors, but using public buses as mobile probes, to allow cities to observe congestion patterns across entire networks.
Another highlight was the explainable crowd-forecasting tool, capable of predicting density up to eleven days ahead. The model blends weather, parking and event data and provides transparent explanations for its predictions, helping authorities prepare for festivals, busy weekends or seasonal peaks with ease. What once required large infrastructures and specialised teams can now run on lightweight systems and be used by planners, researchers and operators without advanced technical skills.
What truly stood out during the event, however, was the impact already visible in the pilot cities. In Scheveningen, authorities now rely on a unified dashboard that updates every fifteen minutes, helping teams prepare for crowd surges and coordinate events with greater precision. Rotterdam demonstrated how new analytics help the city identify queues and delays at intersections, supporting its long-term shift towards more sustainable mobility. Riga showcased how data from GPS, public transport schedules and EMERALDS trajectory tools exposed structural delays and guided improvements to timetables and operations. York presented how forecasts combining parking, weather and visitor movement data help the city protect its historic centre while managing tourism more effectively.
Amplifying impact: Trust-IT’s role in sharing EMERALDS with the world
While the technical partners made all this possible, the Trust-IT team made sure it became visible. Throughout the project, we translated complex results into accessible stories across social media, the website, newsletters, webinars, workshops, dedicated news pieces, and more, helping create a shared understanding of what the project was achieving and why it mattered.
For the final event, we made sure the project could close with a bang. We organised the session, coordinated its promotion, and held the EMERALDS booth, where we introduced the project to dozens of visitors. One of the most appreciated touches came in the form of beautifully designed cards explaining each use case; by the end of the day, every single one had been picked up — a small but telling sign of genuine interest and engagement.
EMERALDS has built a new way for cities to understand mobility: a toolset that brings together data from transport networks, sensors, and public spaces, and turns it into clear insights. In real time. The magic lies in how it processes data. Instead of sending everything to the cloud, EMERALDS uses edge computing to analyse data where it’s generated. It’s faster, more efficient, and far better for privacy. For cities, this means being able to predict congestion before it happens, manage transport more intelligently, and respond to events with confidence.
For citizens, it means cleaner streets, safer public spaces, and a more pleasant journey home.
To learn more about EMERALDS, visit: https://emeralds-horizon.eu/
EMERALDS has received funding from the Horizon Europe R&I programme under the GA No. 101093051.
