On 25 February, the European Commission published its Staff Working Document on the Evaluation of Directive 2005/44/EC on harmonised river information services (RIS).Standardisation and harmonisation are feted as the main benefits of the Directive on harmonised river information services (RIS) in the European Commission’s Staff Working Document published on 25 February. The evaluation found that the 2005 RIS Directive and its implementing acts, which establish rules on the use of harmonised river information services (RIS) to ensure the safety, efficiency and environmental friendliness of inland waterways in the EU, are still useful for the sector today. The RIS Directive has been one of the main drivers of digitalisation in the inland waterway transport (IWT), facilitating the introduction of information and communication technologies.