A new PIANC Working Group 156 (WG 156) publication titled: e-Navigation for Inland Waterways 2017 deals with updating the PIANC River Information Services (RIS) Guidelines of 2004.

When PIANC Working Group 125 finished its report in 2011, it concluded that River Information Services might benefit from concepts in the maritime world such as e-Navigation, e-Maritime, and Vessel Traffic Management (VTM). In addition it was found that in several regions, for example the Westerscheldt River, the interaction between seagoing and inland transport was increasing.

It was apparent there was a need to investigate these themes on a global level. For this reason, PIANC was the most suitable organisation to support such research, and consequently, PIANC Working Group 156 was initiated with its first meeting on 23 September 2013 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.