The Ministry of Transport is launching a new Transport Portal. It allows citizens to communicate electronically with authorities in the field of transport, apply for the replacement of their driving licence, obtain their current statement of penalty points, view vehicle data and deal with electronic services in the field of vessels, aviation, etc. This tool is the next step in the digitisation of transport agendas by 2025.
Transport minister Martin Kupka chaired the Transport Ministers Council in Brussels. Today, the council adopted, among other things, a common position (general approach) on the Commission's proposal for a regulation on the Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network, the so-called TEN-T network review. The decision will help in developing reliable transport on the backbone arteries and in obtaining funding for sustainable travel projects, in particular the development of trans-European rail networks. These will continue to run through the Czech Republic as well.
This year, five unique start-ups using specific space technologies and satellite data have been selected for the Prague and Brno branches of the European Space Agency's business incubator. Since the beginning of this incubation programme, i.e. since 2016, 43 start-ups have been supported. These start-ups performed together with those already incubated in the so-called demo day where they introduced themselves to the space industry and at the competition organised as part of the Space2Business event, which is part of the Czech Space Week festival. The start-up World from Space won the national round and the European award went to the start-up SPiN.
On 29 November 2022 Prague hosted two meetings dedicated to data-connected, cooperative and automated mobility. It took place within the framework of a series of events organised as part of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU. The meeting of the representatives of Member States, the European Commission and the European Automated Mobility Partnership took place at the Prague Congress Centre, the traditional venue for major Presidency events.
The upcoming construction season presents a number of significant challenges and milestones for Správa železnic. The construction of several sections of the line to Prague Airport, including the modernisation of Masaryk Railway Station, should be in full swing. The long-awaited start of the modernisation of the Praha-Smíchov and Praha-Bubny stations and the acceleration of the project preparation of high-speed rail lines are expected. In the middle of 2023 we will see a major relief for passengers on the first corridor where long-distance trains will return. The financing of the construction should be based on the record budget in the history of Správa železnic in the expected amount of CZK 61.9 billion, with the possibility of increasing it up to CZK 70.4 billion thanks to the expected EIB loan.
This year's Czech Space Week, a festival of space activities organised by the Ministry of Transport together with CzechInvest, the Observatory and Planetarium of the Capital City of Prague, Planetum and other partners, under the auspices of the Czech EU Presidency will go beyond the borders of the Czech Republic and even further. The festival kicked off today, on 28 November, at the Prague Congress Centre with the two-day Space2Business event and will last until Friday, 2 December. The agenda for businesses, investors, start-ups, students, children and other fans of space is really big. It will celebrate the successes of Czech businesses operating in the space industry and introduce innovations that are driving the space sector in the Czech Republic. The event will also address the impact of the war in Ukraine as part of the Czech Copernicus User Forum. The seminar "Defending European Interests in Space" will focus on the increasingly interlinked topics of space and defence. As part of its international overlap, a workshop will also be held to strengthen cooperation with the Indo-Pacific region. The general partner of the event is the Brno-based company TRL Space Systems.