i2CAT and Autopistas: Driving the Future of Smart Mobility Together

At i2CAT, we are proud to highlight our long-standing and impactful partnership with Autopistas, a leading operator of high-quality road infrastructure in Spain. This collaboration exemplifies how public-private alliances can accelerate innovation and address complex challenges in mobility, paving the way for safer, more efficient, and sustainable transport systems. A shared vision has marked our journey with Autopistas: to redefine mobility through innovation, digitalisation, and sustainability, with a constant focus on people and society.

Our relationship with Autopistas began with both entities collaborating on key projects aimed at transforming mobility. This commitment was further solidified with the signing of a collaboration agreement in September 2024, which explicitly outlined a joint approach to Research, Development, and Innovation (R+D+I) in cooperative, connected, and autonomous mobility, connected vehicles, smart infrastructures, and traffic and road safety systems. As an advanced digital technology research centre, i2CAT brings over two decades of expertise in areas like 5G/6G, IoT, AI, and V2X communications. Autopistas, as a subsidiary of Abertis, provides the invaluable real-world infrastructure and operational experience to validate our cutting-edge solutions. This collaboration is crucial for creating mobility solutions that move from concept to tangible impact.

Our Pioneering Joint Projects

Together, i2CAT and Autopistas have embarked on ambitious projects that are shaping the future of mobility. These initiatives, often framed within significant programs like UNICO Sectorial 5G 2023, are driven by European NextGenerationEU funds, underscoring their strategic importance.

One of our flagship collaborations is DIMOS 5G, a pioneering project focused on connected and sustainable mobility. Launched in May 2025, DIMOS 5G is currently implementing its three key use cases, which were validated in a real-world environment on the C-32 highway. The project leverages intelligent vehicular communication (5G and C-V2X), environmental sensorisation, and digital twins to enable a new mobility model. The three critical scenarios addressed are:

• Improved Road Safety: Sensors distributed along 56 km of the C-32 motorway detect risks like congestion or accidents, which a prediction and analysis system then manages. Alerts are transmitted to vehicles via V2X, allowing drivers to anticipate behaviours and prevent incidents. This proactive approach to mobility management aims to anticipate dangerous situations.
• Reduction of Polluting Emissions: We monitor CO₂, NOx, and particulate matter (PM) emissions in real-time, linking this data with traffic information. The system generates mitigation strategies, such as regulating speed or implementing temporary detours, to reduce the environmental footprint of traffic.
• Prioritisation of Emergency Vehicles: The development of an infrastructure-connected priority management system is intended for ambulances and other emergency vehicles in critical sections, particularly tunnels. It aims to reduce response times to incidents by coordinating the behaviour of other vehicles on the road.

Looking ahead, we are completing the development of the Digital Twin, expanding the V2X network, and starting field tests with connected vehicles. These steps are crucial for technically validating our solutions and informing future smart mobility regulations.

Another pivotal project is 6G TWINROAD, which harnesses 6G technologies, AI, and machine learning to create digital twins for connected and autonomous mobility on roads. This project focuses on:

• Critical Road Infrastructure: V2X and 5G technologies enhance data quality for the Digital Twin, enabling safer and more efficient real-time decisions in areas where communication and positioning are critical.
• Congestion on Interurban Roads: By analysing vehicle flow, strategies are created to reduce congestion. V2X and 5G technologies enable us to send personalised recommendations to each vehicle, enhancing fluidity for all types of transportation, from trucks to autonomous vehicles, all connected to intelligent management.

These projects, including DIMOS 5G, were also showcased at i2CAT’s stand at Tomorrow.Mobility 2024 World Congress, demonstrating our commitment to advancing critical communications, network fluidity for teledriving, and efficient information distribution among vehicles.

The Transformative Impact of Our Partnership

Our collaboration with Autopistas brings significant benefits, both individually and collectively:

For i2CAT, this partnership provides a vital platform to apply our advanced research directly to real-world challenges, significantly increasing the impact of our work from local to global levels. It allows us to push the boundaries of 5G/6G, V2X, AI, and Digital Twin technologies, strengthening our position in applied mobility research in Southern Europe. The projects stimulate new lines of research and foster the growth of our research and innovation staff.

For Autopistas, the alliance is instrumental in their mission to provide new, safe, and sustainable mobility services. It enables them to implement proactive mobility management strategies, anticipating dangerous situations related to both road safety and environmental concerns. The deployment of V2X and 5G technologies facilitates a natural transition towards the future smart highway, enhancing their decision-making engines and enabling cooperative manoeuvres that can orchestrate and send instructions to individual vehicles. This also plays a key role in facilitating the adoption of autonomous driving. By leveraging i2CAT’s expertise, Autopistas reinforces its commitment to innovation and digital transformation, aligning with its corporate responsibility for the future of society and the planet.

Together, we are defining and executing groundbreaking R+D+I projects that will enhance road safety, optimise traffic efficiency, and reduce environmental impact across critical infrastructures. We are collaboratively identifying new challenges and solutions, sharing future roadmaps for key technologies such as V2X, advanced sensing, AI, distributed computing, and cybersecurity. This integrated approach to innovation and technology development positions Catalonia and Southern Europe as a pivotal actor in the global innovative mobility ecosystem.

At i2CAT, we view our partnership with Autopistas as a genuine “win-win situation”—a testament to how combining years of international research expertise with the operational possibilities offered by key industry players yields unique and comprehensive solutions for the future of mobility.