The main challenge of NEWADA duo (Network of Danube Waterway Administrations - data & user orientation) is to level out the differences of the quality of service of the Danube waterway infrastructure. Thus, the main project goal consists of establishing a common level of service in waterway management along the entire Danube, focusing on an efficient waterway infrastructure and customer-oriented services through concerted waterway maintenance and information management procedures. The partnership of the project NEWADA duo comprises only waterway administrations, as these are the responsible organisations within a country with respect to the described tasks of this application form. The project offers a wide horizontal but also vertical representation of the partnership by involving Ministries, regional directorates and international organizations as well. Besides that also partners from Germany and the Ukraine will be involved. The project is in line with the European Danube Region Strategy (EUDRS), as it directly addresses two actions identified of the EUDRS Action Plan. Furthermore the Action Plan explicitly refers to the NEWADA project ("To build on the network of Danube Waterway Administrations), where the partnership of waterway administrations already proofed its fruitful cooperation. NEWADA duo is contributing to the objectives set out for the Priority Axis 3 (Improvement of accessibility) by supporting the development of an efficient transportation network on the Danube, which is without any doubts an efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transport. NEWADA duo is also supporting the objectives of the Area of Intervention 3.1 as well. The expected outputs and results of the NEWADA duo can be summarized as follows: (1) Improved waterway management (integrated, sustainable and regionally coordinated) (2) Enhanced waterway maintenance (improved and coordinated performance) (3) Improved customer orientation of waterway related services (4) Harmonised waterway infrastructure related basic data (defined quality, scope and availability of data) (5) Enhanced usage Information & Communication Technologies (harmonised and up-to-date fairway (6) Increased visibility of waterway authorities Transnational and cross-border cooperation is necessary as the Danube waterway consists of about 1,150 km of national borders. Thus, the waterway administrations shall deepen their cross-border cooperation with their neighbouring countries, in order to avoid redundancies and facilitate the exchange of information. The users of inland navigation are interested in a seamless transportation link and expect services to be available in common quality along the entire Danube. These two things can only be achieved if the waterway administrations strengthen their cooperation and coordinate their future activities. Achievements: Communication In order to raise awareness of the project, we needed to communicate with a broader public and disseminate our results:We at NEWADA duo also ensure that our stakeholders are actively involved in order to achieve user-oriented results and services:»2700 website visitors,»A website that will continue as an information platform for partners and stakeholders until 2016»400 auditors at South East Europe final event achievements session»120 attendees at the NEWADA duo final eventHarmonisation of Basic Data We harmonized information needed for safe and fluent navigation on the Danube.This refered to water levels and forecasts, traffic-related bottlenecks and marking systems:»Water gauge catalog»Concept to improve national water level information»Report about harmonisation of water level forecast»Concept for common quality of service for displaying shallow section information»Marking system database on the Lower DanubeImproving Customer Orientation We enhanced tools for the nautical crew, making these as user-friendly as possible. To this end, we improved both electronic and paper navigational charts and prepared a catalogue of berthing places available on the river:»Upgrading the ENCs with depth information»Production of national Atlas of Berths»Production of Paper ChartsUser Services based on ICTWe improved our single-window information portal on the Danube fairway (FIS Portal) and several WIFI hotspots along the river according to the needs of our users. New innovative services in the field of virtual marking and modern buoy monitoring were introduced in waterway maintenance:»Improved Fairway Information Portal (www.danubeportal.com)»New WLAN hotspots along the Danube: Gönyű, Vukovar, Ruse»Improved WLAN Services on the whole network»Pilots of monitoring and virtual Aids to NavigationIntegrated Waterway Management We established similar quality levels in waterway maintenance and management. In order to do so, we agreed on key performance indicators, optimized processes in sustainable waterway maintenance and prepared for future investments:»Definition of performance indicators and »Common minimum Level of Service»Preparation of investments into infrastructure (e.g. inputs for the EUSDR Fairway Rehabilitation and Maintenance Master Plan for the Danube)»Feasibility study for Waterway Maintenance Management System»Pilot for depth data provision via echo soundersIncrease Visibility and Awareness We informed our stakeholders about the activities of Danube waterway administrations which were not visible enough.Stakeholder workshops were organized along the Danube and a Joint Danube Report is now available:»Common Danube Report 2013»Danube Glossary»14 Stakeholders workshops with more than 400 participants»Market survey on provision of fairway informationa