SPIE Belgium, a subsidiary of the SPIE Group, the European leader in multi-technical services in the fields of energy and communications, and Flow Analytics, a company specialised in the management of pedestrian and vehicle flows, announce the signing of a strategic partnership.
The goal is to deploy mobility solutions based on artificial intelligence, to improve urban fluidity, user safety and support the energy transition.
LiDAR to reshape flow management
The collaboration between SPIE and Flow Analytics by AGC is based on an experimental project conducted in Brussels, near the Atomium and the King Baudouin Stadium. The system uses LiDAR sensors capable of modeling the movements of vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians in three dimensions, without compromising the complete anonymity of the data collected. This technology, already tested across Europe and Japan, enables real-time flow analysis to adapt infrastructure to optimize traffic flow and reduce waiting times at the most congested intersections.
"In SPIE, we found a natural partner: reliable, experienced, and grounded in the reality of local infrastructure," explains Robin Lefrant, General Manager of Flow Analytics by AGC. "Their expertise in installing and maintaining complex systems perfectly complements our approach based on data science and artificial intelligence."
From Artificial Intelligence to the Field
Flow Analytics by AGC brings cutting-edge technology capable of transforming millions of 3D points into actionable information: identifying the type of moving objects/people, average vehicle speed, traffic density, anomaly detection, dynamic traffic light prioritization, etc. SPIE, for its part, ensures the link between data analysis and the field, integrating solutions into existing infrastructures (camera networks, traffic control cabinets, security systems), drawing in particular on its unparalleled knowledge of the technical constraints of such systems.
"We create the bridge between the virtual world and physical reality," emphasizes Norman Kabir, Business Development Manager at SPIE Belgium. "Our role is to ensure the installation, compliance, and operational security of the equipment, while guaranteeing data protection and confidentiality. We set up the raw technical ecosystem and enrich the expertise of Flow Analytics by AGC with our knowledge of the reality on the ground."
Promising results and concrete prospects
The initial results of the Brussels pilot project are encouraging. While it is still too early to measure the concrete impact on traffic flow, experiments conducted in other countries have shown that similar approaches can reduce waiting times by up to 30%. For comparison, a natural decrease in summer traffic in Brussels generally does not exceed 15%. These figures illustrate the considerable potential of dynamic traffic management technologies, particularly in dense urban contexts.
The two partners are already considering extending the system to other areas of the capital and to airport sites, where Flow Analytics by AGC technologies could also be used to improve the management of parking lots, terminals, and passenger flows.
Technological response to urban challenges
Faced with sometimes aging infrastructure (inductive loop detection systems dating back to the 1960s, while useful and proven for comprehensive but poorly differentiated flow management, are still used in some areas), SPIE and Flow Analytics by AGC offer a more refined and responsive alternative, based on predictive analysis and intelligent prioritization of flows based on time of day, density, or vehicle type.
This partnership responds to a growing demand from cities for connected and privacy-friendly solutions. The technologies deployed are fully GDPR-compliant: no personal data is collected, and the systems only identify objects and not individuals.
"The challenge is to demonstrate that technology can truly transform the urban experience, without compromising security or confidentiality," concludes Robin Lefrant. "Belgium has all the assets to become a European laboratory for intelligent mobility, and this partnership is a first concrete demonstration of this."