Rijkswaterstaat (RWS) manages the main highways and the national water system in the Netherlands. Apart from protecting the Netherlands against floods and ensuring sufficient supply of clean water, RWS works to ensure that traffic can flow smoothly and safely along more than 6,000 km of highways and waterways. It operates on behalf of the Minister and State Secretary for Infrastructure and Environment.

About Ibor

IBOR involves the remote management of public space objects, for example to enable bridges and locks to be operated remotely and allow a faster and safer response in the event of accidents or emergencies. The CGI IBOR platform opens the way to safer, innovative and cost-effective management of public space. IBOR was developed by CGI and Microsoft to facilitate remote operation for cheaper and more environmentally sensitive management of public lighting, to use street lighting to indicate routes for emergency services in the event of accidents and to mark out pedestrian routes for events, with LED lamps indicating the route by means of different light intensities and colors.

The Challenge

Around 36% of RWS’s electricity spend is on street lighting and traffic signals. This energy consumption generates substantial CO2 emissions, and RWS aims to achieve sustainable reductions in both costs and environmental impact. Guaranteeing safety is also an important part of the organization’s mission. Many parties both within and outside RWS play a role in maintaining that safety, such as highway authorities, the traffic control center and emergency services.

RWS wants a simple, economical solution for the control of street lighting. Various parties need to be able to manage the lighting in order to increase safety, for example by switching off power in road works or providing additional lighting for emergency services at the scene of traffic accidents. The parties must be able to do so through various channels, so that the lighting is ‘on’ only when it needs to be.

Our answer

We are helping RWS with a smart and dynamic solution, using which street lighting can be managed remotely by a computer, laptop, tablet or a smartphone. The innovative IBOR platform enables street lights to be switched on and off easily when required. We are working with RWS to determine the parties and roles that are key to maintaining safe and sustainable public lighting.

A success story

IBOR went live during the “Night of the Night”, an annual event promoted by environmental organizations to raise awareness of the benefits and energy savings made possible by reducing artificial light. The pilot was successful. With just a few simple operations the RWS personnel were able to switch off the lighting on the A50 and the A1 remotely. The success paved the way for a rollout across 7,500 street lights in the east of the Netherlands. Together with our partners, we have shown RWS that IBOR is a platform for the future with huge potential for innovation.

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