Digital cable project key to IMEC success: Report

Digital project forms key part of IMEC: Report

New Delhi, Oct 5

While the railway project would take longer to implement, the digital cable network can be put in place far quicker, according to an article in Gulf News.

The article points out that a cable that secures investment and provides a useful connection would be an achievement in its own right and can be carried out separately from the railway project.

A digital cable and a freight railway need to prove themselves in different ways. A cable needs connections at either end, and customers willing to pay to use it. A freight service needs ships, trains, ports, and border crossings to work together each time a shipment moves.

It highlights that the digital project, associated with IMEC's wider aims, appears to be viable as it would connect customers at either end who would be willing to pay for the use.

An EU Global Gateway document places the planned 9,000-km Blue Raman subsea cable within the corridor's digital framework and lists 400 million euros in investment, including 37 million euros from the EU, the article states.

The article highlights that it makes sense to assess IMEC for one project at a time. If a digital link secures customers, it can move ahead while governments work through the rail questions. The same could apply to an electricity connection or hydrogen pipe if either has funding and buyers. Progress on those projects would be real, even without a complete freight route, it states.

The article opines that there is a need to first take up the projects whose costs, customers and schedules are clear. IMEC could provide useful connections before its trains run. This progress can be understood better if each completed link is given credit for what it does, while still keeping in what is still on the drawing board, the article observes.

— IANS