A planned remote monitoring system for maritime safety devices signals how public bodies are reshaping critical infrastructure around data and reliability.
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The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency is opening a market dialogue on a new remote monitoring and management system for maritime safety devices, signalling a step-change in how critical waterway infrastructure is overseen and how operational data is used.
On 19th January 2026, Väylävirasto, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, published a prior information notice for a planned remote monitoring and management service system for maritime safety devices. The notice invites input from the market before a full procurement is launched.
The planned system is intended to cover the implementation, maintenance and further development of a remote service that oversees maritime safety devices. The agency’s stated aim is to enhance the reliability of this equipment and to make better use of the data it generates.
Maritime safety devices are fundamental to safe navigation and the continuity of transport flows. By moving towards a coordinated remote monitoring and management service, the agency is looking to strengthen control over this critical infrastructure and support safer, more predictable operations on Finnish waterways.
The notice points to a procurement that goes beyond the delivery of technology alone. Väylävirasto highlights three pillars for the planned system: implementation, maintenance and development. That combination suggests a long-term service relationship in which the system is installed, kept in reliable operation and adapted over time.
Reliability and data utilisation sit at the centre of the brief. The agency is not only seeking tools to watch over maritime safety devices, but also wants to draw more value from the information this network produces. That places data flows and their management at the heart of the future contract.
As a prior information notice, the document does not yet set out detailed specifications, volumes or commercial structures. Instead, the authority is using market dialogue to test options and understand what suppliers can realistically offer before finalising the procurement approach.
The Finnish initiative lands amid a broad European shift towards remote monitoring of infrastructure assets, often using connected devices, telecoms networks and central data platforms.
In September 2025, the French authority CA du Pays de Dreux issued a contract notice for the deployment, management and maintenance of a remote reading system. The project bundles together meters, radio modules, plumbing parts and ongoing maintenance into a single managed service.
Also in September 2025, WTL – Wasserversorgungsverband Tecklenburger Land in Germany sought a framework agreement for the delivery of ultrasonic water meters with NB-IoT communication, paired with data processing software and a central management platform. Here, communications technology and software are as important as the meters themselves.
Remote reading of water meters has become a prominent testing ground for these approaches. In November 2025, Aquanet S.A. in Poland launched a contract for a stationary remote water meter reading system using IoT technology, covering installation, maintenance and training services. Later that month, the Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority went to market for remote read water meters and check valves, planning to roll out up to 40,000 devices using LoRaWAN and NB-IoT technologies over the coming years.
In December 2025, "Zielonogórskie Wodociągi i Kanalizacja" Sp. z o.o. announced a contract to expand its IoT-based remote reading system for water meters, including new communication infrastructure and ongoing technical support. These projects show how utilities are fusing hardware, communications and long-term service contracts to monitor dispersed assets.
Other sectors are moving in the same direction. In September 2025, Eurométropole de Strasbourg set up a framework for the supply of monitoring equipment for water and sewerage networks, including remote management tools, level and pressure sensors and access to a web server for data reception.
In November 2025, Iarnród Éireann–Irish Rail issued a contract notice for civil infrastructure remote and structural health monitoring systems under a single-party, multi-lot framework. The scope covers design, supply, installation and commissioning, underlining that engineering expertise and long-term performance are as central as the devices on the ground.
Close to Väylävirasto’s own domain, in October 2025 via donau – Österreichische Wasserstraßen-Gesellschaft mbH began a market exploration for a remote monitoring system for fairway marking on the Austrian section of the Danube waterway. Like the Finnish initiative, the Austrian project is testing market capabilities before specifying how fairway marking will be monitored in future.
Seen together, these examples point to a model in which public bodies use connected equipment, telecoms standards such as NB-IoT and LoRaWAN, and web-based platforms to watch over critical infrastructure. Väylävirasto’s planned maritime safety system fits squarely into this trend, but with a direct impact on navigational safety in Finnish waters.
The use of a prior information notice and market dialogue by Väylävirasto mirrors a wider pattern across Finland and the Nordic region, where authorities are using early engagement to frame complex digital procurements.
In August 2025, the Southwest Finland ELY Centre launched a market dialogue for vessel services on the Utö route, seeking input from vessel traffic service providers to improve service content and address environmental impacts. That exercise, like Väylävirasto’s, aims to clarify what the market can deliver before a formal competition.
In September 2025, Oulu Water Utility invited suppliers to a market dialogue on an inventory management system, while Numera Palvelut Oy opened a dialogue on vehicle management and procurement services. Both processes use supplier feedback to shape future tender documents.
The social and welfare sectors are following suit. In September 2025, Länsi-Uudenmaan hyvinvointialue sought information on home safety technology and alarm reception systems for its Security Assistance Service. In October 2025, Servica Oy went to the market with a technical dialogue on a digital self-monitoring system, explicitly to clarify minimum requirements and ensure fair competition.
Transport and mobility systems are also being rethought through early engagement. In October 2025, the City of Helsinki’s Urban Environment Division invited dialogue on a new traffic light central control system to replace outdated devices and handle a varied equipment base. In November 2025, Banedanmark opened a market dialogue on monitoring and diagnosing railway telecommunications and signalling systems, explicitly to align its upcoming tender with market capabilities.
Other Nordic bodies are using similar methods for technical systems: Aalborg Forsyning began a market dialogue on heating meters in August 2025; Region Stockholm’s Traffic Administration launched talks in November 2025 on a new agreement for the operation and maintenance of telecommunication, transmission and IT-controlled systems. In January 2026, Norway’s SYKEHUSINNKJØP HF invited input on the procurement of IT accessories and monitors for health companies.
This pattern shows that for technology-heavy projects – from welfare technology to railway diagnostics and maritime monitoring – buyers are increasingly using structured dialogue to tune their requirements, reduce procurement risk and open competition to a wider pool of suppliers.
Väylävirasto’s maritime monitoring initiative is still at an early stage. The prior information notice sets out the direction of travel – a remote monitoring and management service aimed at improving reliability and data use – but not yet the technical detail.
The eventual contract notice will show how the agency balances technology, service provision and data management, and how responsibilities for maintenance and ongoing development are shared between the authority and its supplier or suppliers. Experience from recent remote monitoring procurements elsewhere in Europe suggests that integrated offerings, covering devices, communications, platforms and support, are now the norm.
For now, the focus is on the market dialogue itself. How suppliers respond to Väylävirasto’s questions – and how that shapes the subsequent tender – will be watched closely by companies active in maritime systems and by those already delivering remote monitoring solutions across water, rail, energy and urban infrastructure.
As European authorities from the Danube to the Baltic refine their approach to monitoring critical infrastructure, Finland’s forthcoming procurement will offer another reference point in the evolving practice of data-driven, remotely managed safety systems.
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