On 25–26 June 2025, Malta hosted a two-day training session on National Access Points (NAPs), welcoming around 40 participants from Malta and across Europe. Organised by the Malta Transport Authority Centre in collaboration with NAPCORE and ERTICO, the training was designed to help Malta prepare for setting up its own NAP and to explain to their ITS community how to meet European legal and technical requirements for mobility data sharing.
Day 1: Foundations of NAPs and Legal Obligations
The training opened with remarks from the CEO of Transport Malta and the Ministry for Transport, along with representatives from NAPCORE (Timo Hoffmann, Secretary general of NAPCORE) and ERTICO (Frank Daems, NAPCORE academy lead). These introductions set out Malta’s current plans and why having a working NAP is not just a technical upgrade but a legal requirement under the ITS Directive and its related Delegated Regulations.
Timo Hoffmann gave an overview of the NAPCORE project and Prisca Numbisi (ERTICO) explained the reference architecture behind NAPs: how they are typically set up, who is involved, and what kind of data is expected. Frank Daems then walked through the legal framework, including regulations on Real-Time Traffic Information (RTTI) and Multimodal Travel Information Services (MMTIS), and discussed what each country is expected to do to meet these rules.
The session continued with examples from Belgium, Austria, and Cyprus. These use cases helped illustrate different approaches to setting up a NAP and pointed out recurring challenges—such as how to deal with data providers who are reluctant to share data. Participants discussed the importance of clear rules, trust, and cooperation between authorities and data holders.
Understanding EMDS and How It Connects with NAPs
Another key topic was the European Mobility Data Space (EMDS), which aims to improve how mobility data is found and used across Europe. Frank Daems explained the goals of EMDS and how it fits alongside the NAP infrastructure, while also stressing the differences: EMDS focuses on ensuring seamless and trusted exchange of data by data space stakeholders, while NAPs publish the authentic links to the data.
Demonstration: TN-ITS and Speed Limits
One of the most appreciated parts of Day 1 was a live demonstration by Stephen T’Siobbel (ERTICO, TN-ITS expert), who showed how TN-ITS, as RTTI delegated regulation reference data exchange standard can be used to create and publish changes in road attributes (such as speed limits) on digital maps, enhanced by NAP services. The session walked participants through how to create a TN-ITS messages, encode it, validate the file, and publish it to a NAP. It also covered the demonstration of tools available for parsing and visualising and further processing the data.
Participants rated this hands-on session highly, noting it helped clarify the process of preparing and uploading data references to a NAP. Several attendees asked how to access historical data, how updates are tracked, and whether this information can be retrieved directly from the NAP or only through the original provider.
Day 2: Data Quality, Compliance, and Working with Real Examples
The second day focused on practical issues such as data quality, compliance rules for both datholders and data users , and the daily work of managing a NAP. Sessions addressed how the NAPCORE 7 quality frameworks and the RTTI “5-star” rating system, as a TISA initiative from service providers. The session also outlined how responsibilities are divided between all stakeholders to counter vulnerabilities and what kind of cooperation is needed to keep information accurate and up to date.
Interactive polls and Q&A sessions surfaced questions about lack of cooperation between providers, privacy concerns, and the need for better guidance on how data should be structured and monitored. Several participants noted that sometimes data providers are also data users, which creates a shared interest in maintaining reliable data.
Participants worked in groups on three real-world use cases: parking data, multimodal travel information, and infrastructure and traffic data. Each group considered:
-What kind of data is needed?
-Why should it be shared?
-What standards and rules apply?
-How is the data kept accurate and up to date?
-What challenges do data providers and users face?
This exercise gave participants the chance to think through all the steps involved in collecting, preparing, sharing, and maintaining data through a NAP.
Feedback and Future Work
Feedback from the event was very positive. Participants said they gained a clearer understanding of how NAPs function and what is expected under the current EU legal framework. Many asked for more information on how to upload data to the NAP and how to ensure it meets technical and legal requirements. There was also strong interest in more detailed training on quality checks and the practicalities of daily NAP management.
Kenneth Spiteri, from the Malta Foundation from Transport, stated:
“This workshop has been instrumental in helping us gain a deeper understanding of the exceptional work being carried out within NAPCORE, while also offering valuable insights that will guide the development of our own systems in line with NAPCORE’s frameworks.
The use cases presented by Austria, Belgium, and Cyprus provided us with greater visibility into the practical implementations across member states, highlighting approaches that resonate with our own challenges and objectives. We sincerely hope this event marks the beginning of continued collaboration.”
The event also highlighted common ground between Malta and Cyprus, both of which are working to improve how mobility data is managed and shared. This could open the door for further cooperation on technical solutions and policy development.
With the launch of the extension of the NAPCORE project in July 2025, there will be additional support for countries like Malta that are still in the early stages of setting up their NAPs as well as for engaged data holders and data users. The project, which runs through 2027 and includes 77 partners across 33 countries, will offer guidance, tools, and coordination for ongoing improvements, an ERTICO’s academy will play an instrumental role in ensuring further deployment of this important EU data initiative.