Berlin-based gedas, which describes itself as a system integrator, is playing a major role in the development of a traffic management system for the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens.

The company will use its knowledge of Floating Car Data (FCD) technology for the project that, for the first time, will integrate traffic flow data from vehicles, with traffic information based on aerial photographs.

The project has received 4 million Euros funding from the European Community and aims to prove the efficiency of the fleet management system for the official Olympic vehicles in a field test held in Athens.

Other than gedas, the consortium involved, which is headed by the Greek land registry (KTI), includes companies such as Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Bosch subsidiary Blaupunkt, the Fraunhofer Institute IPK and the Technical University of Crete.

'The expectations of the National Olympic Committee of Greece, various government departments and the traffic and safety authorities of Athens are high as they follow the progress of this project,' said Ralf Willenbrock, gedas project manager.

It is being used to demonstrate the traffic management services that will be provided during the Olympiad. This is the dress rehearsal for Athens 2004.'