The Open Logistics Foundation and Logistics in Wallonia are now official Network Partners. The partnership was formalised with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. The aim of the cooperation is to combine the forces of both organisations to strengthen cross-border and cross-company collaboration in the logistics sector and to promote the development of open, interoperable solutions across Europe.

Logistics in Wallonia acts as an innovation cluster that brings together companies, universities, research organisations, experts, and institutions to develop a shared strategic vision for the logistics industry through the setting up and the financing of innovative and collaborative projects. Both organisations are already familiar with each other through the European technology platform ETP ALICE (Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe), where they jointly contribute to the development of a Europe-wide research and innovation strategy for logistics and supply chain management.

For the Open Logistics Foundation, this new partnership opens an important gateway to Belgium’s SME sector. Through the exchange with Logistics in Wallonia and its strong regional network, small and medium-sized enterprises in particular can benefit from open, interoperable solutions such as those provided by the Foundation on an open source basis. One example is the Open Logistics Foundation’s eCMR solution, which establishes a uniform standard for the digital consignment note – legally compliant, interoperable, and freely available to companies of all sizes. With the Benelux eCMR pilot project now extended until 2027, the topic is once again in focus: the Open Logistics Foundation’s open, collaboratively developed software demonstrates how standardised digital processes can work in practice and how they contribute to cross-border digitalisation.

“With Logistics in Wallonia, we are gaining a strong partner who shares our vision: to make logistics more sustainable and efficient through open standards and collaborative development,” says Andreas Nettsträter, Managing Director of the Open Logistics Foundation. “At the same time, the Logistics in Wallonia network allows us to specifically bring our solutions to Belgian SMEs and thus drive the adoption of open standards across Europe.” Logistics in Wallonia also emphasises the added value of the partnership: “The Open Logistics Foundation stands for openness, collaboration, and practical solutions. These are values that are deeply rooted in our network,” explains Bernard Piette, Managing Director of Logistics in Wallonia. “Our network is mainly made of SME’s and we all know that transport and logistics remain a highly fragmented business. This prevents companies to tackle future challenges and slows the adoption of new technologies. Through this cooperation, we can offer our members direct access to proven technologies and accelerate the adoption of common standards in Belgium.”

About
The Open Logistics Foundation and its supporting association Open Logistics e.V. were founded in 2021 and are independent and neutral organisations. The non-profit and commonbenefit foundation based in Dortmund is completely financed by industry partners and is dedicated to the voluntary development of innovative open source solutions at a commodity level for the logistics industry. The focus is on open and fair cooperation between different companies, which can also be competitors in the free market. The overarching goal is to solve the most pressing existing problems of the logistics and supply chain management (SCM) community with uniform standards, tools and services, based on open source.

About
Logistics in Wallonia is the Innovation Cluster officially recognised by the Walloon Government as part of its Competitiveness Clusters policy. The Cluster has more than 310 members. The Cluster's vision is to ‘Be the Walloon benchmark for logistics and innovation in mobility, serving all stakeholders. The cluster also has a mission: To strengthen and sustain Wallonia's attractiveness in terms of logistics, Logistics in Wallonia:
• engages stakeholders in an innovation process;
• anticipates technological, non-technological and environmental developments;
• activates the resources necessary for the creation of value and activities.

Source, The Open Logistics Foundation and Logistics in Wallonia