Following on from our successful webinar last month, the EaP RSO has hosted a follow up session for road safety counterparts in Armenia's Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MTAI) to further the exchange of knowledge. This webinar was centred around learning from Lithuania’s experience in Road Asset Management Systems (RAMS), which has been vital in helping the country become one of only 10 countries worldwide to achieve the Decade of Action target to reduce road fatalities by 50%.

Egidijus Skrodenis, Senior Data Specialist working with the EaP RSO, was joined by Aivaras Vilkelis, an expert in transportation infrastructure and road safety from Lithuania who has played a key role in the country’s Vision Zero initiatives, transport strategy and management. Both also have extensive experience working in the EaP region and beyond.

During the webinar, the pair presented on the importance of RAMS in maintaining and upgrading physical assets. Here, data collection is key in targeting the most vulnerable elements of the infrastructural system. Egidijus specifically went into detail on the expansive needs of successful RAMSs, including data on everything from the condition of the asphalt to HR planning.

There was a discussion around various software solutions but the importance of the local conditions, specifically the availability of data, was noted as key factor their effectiveness.

The presentation sparked an engaging discussion over the stages of asset management for road networks in EaP countries and the specific needs of countries when it comes to data collection and analysis.

Based on this webinar, and the interest from EaP RSO countries, we plan to focus more on RAMS over the next year. One of our key aims is to listen to and respond to the needs of our country counterparts, providing knowledge and effective strategies that can be integrated into their existing road safety plans.

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