At a recent workshop with the European GNSS Agency (GSA) in Bratislava, the Slovak Republic highlighted how it is leveraging the potential of European GNSS in such areas as road transport and civil aviation.
The Slovak Republic is enthusiastically embracing the potential of European GNSS, especially in the areas of road 
transport and civil aviation. At a February workshop in Bratislava, experts and decision makers from the Slovak Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development met with the GSA and representatives from industry and the transport sector to exchange ideas and best practices.
Success on the road
Slovakia has already become a world leader in the use of GNSS-based on-board units (OBU) in heavy goods vehicles to collect road tolls and reduce emissions. It is now investigating other applications in the road sector, such as tracking dangerous goods, fleet control and automatic emergency call systems that alert emergency services in the event of a serious accident involving a vehicle equipped with the system.
“This is a nice recognition for the Slovak Republic,” said Slovak Republic Director General of Electronic Communications and Postal Services Zuzana Sturdikova, speaking on the success of Slovak industry in using GNSS applications. “As a relatively young and small country in Europe, Slovakia is viewed as a pioneer in implementing European GNSS and satellite navigation applications and is serving as an example to other countries looking to develop similar systems.”
Of particular note is the country’s expansion of the length of roads covered by its charging scheme from about 2,500 km to nearly 17,800 km within just one month. Slovak Tolling and IT Director of National Highway Company Milan Rac noted that this accomplishment was only possible thanks to such E-GNSS programmes as EGNOS and Galileo.
“We believe European GNNS can guide Slovakia not only towards a smart, integrated transport system, but also to GNSS applications in all relevant market segments,” said Slovak Republic State Counsellor of Electronic Communications Tibor Javor.
Benefiting aviation too
The Slovak aviation industry is also interested in the potential application of EGNOS, for example with the implementation of LPV approach guidance systems (localiser performance with vertical guidance) that dispenses of the need for expensive ground infrastructure for assisted landing.
“Slovakia has been able to rapidly and strategically seize the opportunities offered by EGNOS in key market segments with tangible results and is clearly ready for Galileo,” concluded GSA Head of Market Development Gian Gherardo Calini.
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Read more:
EGNSS Best Practise Exchange workshop (slovak version)
Nie sme „Béčka“. V satelitnej navigáci. (slovak version)