Mobility is foundational in our age. However, for decades innovation in the transport sector has been slow and incremental. This has been partly due to costly infrastructure, little cooperation between the different players in the system and a risk-averse culture. For a long time, fundamental shifts in the sector did not come easily or quickly.
This situation is changing. And it is changing fast. We are currently witnessing a paradigm shift. The megatrends of urbanisation, connectivity and digitalisation have had a profound impact on personal mobility, in turn leading to new business models and solutions.
This edition of the Berlin Future Mobility Meetup looked at how these new digital services and mobility solutions are shaking up the industry and how we are moving towards an integrated, reactive and intelligent mobility system driven by technology and a desire for personalised services.
Max Power, InnoZ Lab Manager, led through the evening, with LSE’s Florian Lennert, Director Intelligent City Forum LSE/InnoZ, giving a short keynote on current urban mobility issues and challenges, focusing especially on decarbonisation. The event also provided a context for four pitches by young Berlin mobility service startups, nearly all of them also located on the EUREF campus: eMio, modalyzer, sinCO2 and ally.
The panel discussion ‘New Services for Future Mobility’ followed, moderated by LSE Enterprise’s Pia Laube. The panel consisted of:
- Ema Paulin – Business Development at Hubject
- Tom Kirschbaum – COO and Co-Founder Ally
- Romeo Kienzler – Data Scientist and Advisory Architect at IBM Innovation Centre
- Thomas Waschke – Former Senior Expert and Head of Society and Technology Research Group, Daimler
After every panellist had given a concise impression of how their work relates to the world of new mobility services, there was a discussion of how technology accelerates change in the sector and provides opportunities for innovation. This diverse market has seen a lot of new entrants, including big players such as auto makers, but to some extent the evolving digital ecosystem has levelled the playing field and granted small, young and flexible enterprises the chance to test their ideas. Moreover, with the mobility sector being a testing ground for the software solutions of tomorrow, it was established that many mobility innovators today are foremost mobility integrators. Finally it was observed that these new services will definitely impact how we move in the city – making our journeys more efficient and convenient.
The event concluded with a barbeque and networking opportunities for guests and panellists alike.
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