Date: 11. January 2024

The project “DANOVA NEXT” (“Smart transport network for accessibility for passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility in the Danube region through innovative services”) has been approved for financing as part of the cross-border cooperation programme INTERREG-DANUBE 2021-2027, which is financed from the European Fund for Regional development (ERDF) within the framework of European Territorial Cooperation, which provides support between the countries of the Danube region.

The implementation of the program is coordinated by joint structures (Managing Authority, MA and Joint Secretariat, JS) established in Budapest, Hungary.

The DANOVA NEXT (PROJECT ID: DRP0200298) project is a continuation of the DANOVA project, which was successfully implemented as part of the INTERREG-DANUBE 2014-2020 programme.

The overall goal of the “DANOVA NEXT” project is to improve the accessibility of transport in the Danube region for all persons with disabilities (visual/hearing impairments and persons with reduced mobility) by strengthening innovation and technology transfer to create new customized innovative services and providing fully accessible Digital Travel Information Services (DTIS) through the creation of a smart network between airports, ports and local urban transport.

The DANOVA NEXT project defined three specific goals:

– Developing a strategic framework for accessible transport in the Danube region,

– Creation of a smart transport network for PRM data on digital availability,

– Testing of innovative services to increase the level of accessibility of transport hubs in the Danube region.

The realization of the DANOVA NEXT project is expected through:

– developing solutions for providing services that are highly adapted to the type of disability of each individual user,

– developing a solution for providing a service that is accessible to users regardless of the type of disability (DTIS) with the help of innovative visual or sound formats.

The project consortium consists of 16 partners and 2 associated partners: 5 airports (Dubrovnik, Sarajevo, Airports of Montenegro, Budapest, State Enterprise Chisinau airport), 2 seaports (Pula and Kotor), 3 urban public transports (Municipalty of Maribor, Public transport Company of Bratislava and Czech smart city cluster), 3 technical partners (Romanian National Association of the Deaf, Austrian Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted, Croatian association of person with disabilities), 3 research partners (University of Maribor, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Bulgarian Association for Transfer of Technology and Innovation – BATTI and 2 associated partners (Ombudsman for people with disabilities Croatia and the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs of Montenegro).

The project started on January 1, 2024. and lasts a total of 30 months until June 30, 2026. The Kick of meeting of the DANOVA NEXT project was held in Dubrovnik on February 22, 2024.

The total budget of the project is EUR 2,622,400, of which the amount of co-financing with grants from the INTERREG DANUBE 2021-2027 program through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is at a co-financing rate of 80%, i.e. EUR 2,097,920.