With a major kickoff event at the IBM Watson IoT Center, UnternehmerTUM today launched the Digital Hub Mobility. Within this hub, major automotive companies and mobility service providers, suppliers, technology startups, and partners from academia, the public sector, and the digital industry are working together for the first time on the mobility of the future – all from Munich.
People's mobility needs are changing rapidly. So much so that "mobility" will have to be thought of differently in the future. But how, and in what directions? To explore these and other questions, the Digital Hub Mobility was established on the initiative of the German Federal Government and Bitkom. The goal of this initiative is to establish a world-leading experimental and testing environment for urban mobility concepts, to create the framework for automated and connected driving in collaboration with strong partners, and to develop services for connected mobility. The idea behind it: Germany should not only maintain but also further strengthen its position as an innovation hub for mobility solutions in international competition:
"For Germany to remain a leader in future mobility, we need new approaches and interdisciplinary collaboration among all stakeholders in the field of mobility. The Digital Hub Mobility in Munich offers unique conditions for this."
is Susanne Klatten, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of UnternehmerTUM, secure.
The Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs agrees Ilse Aigner In their opinion, the Free State also offers the ideal conditions for a hub with a focus on mobility:
“Large automotive companies, medium-sized suppliers, innovative ICT start-ups, and outstanding scientific institutions are located in the immediate vicinity.”
In addition to the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is funding the Digital Hub Mobility with €500,000, other strong partners are also on board. These include Audi, BMW, Daimler, IBM, Nokia, SAP, Stadtwerke München, ADAC, adidas, Infineon, MAN, and TÜV Süd.
Digital Product School: Fast access to digital services
But the hub isn't just intended to be a place for conversation and exchange. Rather, it's also intended to implement concrete projects – at a pace that's less reminiscent of Munich and more of Palo Alto: Within just three months, students, researchers, and employees from partner companies will develop digital services for flexible and connected mobility concepts at the Digital Product School. Each year, 100 product managers, software developers, interaction designers, and artificial intelligence specialists will work together here. In practical projects, innovative and agile development methods will be applied, and digital products will be implemented to solve specific customer problems in the mobility sector.
Directly after the official part, the startups present presented examples of what such innovative concepts could look like. Among them were the Munich startups Eluminocity, Invenox, Konux, Veact and ParkHere.
Large and strong partners, official support, and an exciting topic – it will be exciting to see how the Munich hub will help shape the mobility of the future. And who knows, perhaps the solution to Silicon Valley's perpetual traffic jam problem will actually come from the Bavarian capital, as Susanne Klatten has suggested.
