Core to our mission is empowering women in STEM and business, both sectors with intense barriers to their participation. That’s why we support the theme of equity. We put that idea to action through programmes specially designed to uplift women forging innovation.

This 8 March, we’re using the opportunity presented to us by International Women’s Day to highlight why equity is important with a sneak peek of our latest study on women in innovation.

Women are an important source of talent that too often gets turned away from tech and business by both historical inequality and a culture that discourages them from joining. The latest study from Dealroom and Supernovas, an EIT Community initiative to support women business creators, gives us incredible input on how inclusivity unlocks new potential for innovation in Europe and what Europe needs to do to break down the barriers still in place.

Data that drives us forward

Studies already show that women’s perspectives are more important than ever to reduce the biases that are already creeping into future tech sectors like AI. Diversity at the top of a business boosts its financial success over time compared to competitors without that diversity.

That was proven in Dealroom and Supernovas’ latest study, which found that women-founded tech scale-ups in Europe increased their value 6.5x, growing 1.2x faster than the rest of scale-ups over the past five years.

Women have gained ground but still face a hostile playing field

Supernovas’ latest study found that the 2021-2022 period had seen the most venture capital investment in women-founded scale-ups with over USD 9 billion invested over those two years. European investors have been providing the largest share of VC capital for European scale-ups founded by women since 2020.

But there’s still a lot of work to be done to reach a more equitable gender balance. Out of over 7 000 European scale-ups, only 604 (8%) had at least one woman on their founding team. That’s why we continue to make women a central focus of our efforts.

Findings reveal benefits of women in leadership and the barriers to their success

• Women-founded businesses are significantly more likely to focus on sustainability, with nearly one in four women-led scale-ups working to fight climate change
• Women-founded businesses converted a higher percentage of rounds from Seed to Series A (funding during the early stages of their business growth) in a shorter period of time than the European benchmark, but are still disadvantaged in late-stage investment rounds
• There is an especially high growth of women founded scale-ups in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland — they grew 16.6x since 2017

The full Supernovas study will be published 16 May.

Within EIT Urban Mobility, cities are our driving force and enabler of faster adoption of innovation. 

To harness the wider city innovation capacity and ensure innovation closer to citizens, we developed a Rapid Application for Transport (RAPTOR) Pilot in 2020. This pilot helped 4 cities/towns identify niche mobility issues in specific locations with defined parameters and clear success criteria. Once these niche city mobility challenges were defined, a competition was launched for local innovators, teams, and start-ups to propose any solution as long as the original issue and outcomes were addressed. This provided space for lateral thinking beyond our own networks.  The initial pilot was extended to a total of 13 cities and 19 niche mobility challenges in 2022. 

Each city, supported by technical and business advisors, selected the most promising solution to receive an award, in-kind and cash, to advance the proposal to a Solution to be tested in the city within four months of award. For the Innovation Programme of EIT Urban Mobility, agile entrepreneurial innovation based on problem/challenges with rapid development timelines closer to citizens and in a named location, has the potential to become a powerful tool in our innovation agenda. 

RAPTOR, an agile innovation sub-project, is compatible with and complements our traditional larger scale projects funded in the Business Plan. Moreover, the internal competition in RAPTOR both promotes the wider urban mobility agenda and draws cutting edge innovators/ SMEs into our community. With the new edition of the RAPTOR programme in 2023, EIT Urban Mobility will select up to 12 Applicants from across Europe to develop solutions to niche mobility challenges. Existing documentation and lessons learned from RAPTOR 2022 will be key in ensuring an acceleration of innovation in cities, closer to citizens and closer to the innovation’s edge.  

We look forward to seeing exactly what our cities, partners, start-ups & SMEs can achieve under this successful agile innovation set-up. 

Call Main Features 

Info sessions and contact details 

To help applicants with the preparation and submission of their proposals, EIT Urban Mobility will host one call launch information session as well as two live Q&A online. These online information events will focus on the call content, the challenges, the submission and evaluation procedures, and the financial aspects. These three events will be recorded and made available on the EIT UM YouTube and the RAPTOR Project website in the News section.  

Please find the calendar of events and the link to register in the table below:

In parallel to the call information sessions, all applicants may contact EIT Urban Mobility to resolve any concerns or doubts on the general/technical procedures and call content. These are the key contact details of the EIT Urban Mobility team for questions related to this call: 

EIT Urban Mobility (represented by Innovation Hub South) and the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA, Ministerio de Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) back in May 2022. The MoU provides the framework for the work towards collaborative initiatives to tackle the current (and future) urban mobility challenges of Spanish cities. 

Activities so far

• An event in Madrid on Mobility Data Spaces (11 October 2022) organised by EIT Urban Mobility and co-hosted by Rocío Báguena, Director of the Transport Studies and Technology Division of MITMA. Ms. Báguena set the scene on the state-of-the-art of data sharing in the mobility and transport sectors in Spain, highlighting the efforts and lighthouse projects lead by MITMA in this field (EDIM, NAP, etc.). The event was an opportunity to further discuss the main obstacles and barriers of the public sector when sharing data with other key stakeholders (private sector, research and academia, citizens, etc.), and to exchange with the audience on suitable and quick-win actions at this regard. 

• Second workshop of the Working Group on Mobility of Gaia-X Spain, organized back-to-back with Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress (15 November 2022). The workshop was an opportunity to discuss further the potential of Mobility Data Spaces for the Spanish market, and to co-create use cases with experts from the quadruple-helix of innovation. The output of this session will be transferred to a second edition of the brand-new study on this topic by the i2CAT Foundation, FACTUAL and EIT Urban Mobility. 

Outlook 2023

The standing committee – with representatives of MITMA and EIT Urban Mobility – met on 22 December 2022 to assess the progress regarding the implementation of the activities, and to agree on the priorities for next year. 

The outcome of this meeting is a set of priority actions in the fields of digitalization, data sharing and data economy; demand responsive transit (DRT); and the transition towards carbon-neutrality in cities.  

These actions will be mainly focused on capacity building and training of mobility practitioners; knowledge transfer (conferences, thematic sessions, workshops); raising public awareness (communication and dissemination); and testing and piloting of innovative solutions. 

Stay tuned for more information on the upcoming initiatives co-organized by MITMA and EIT Urban Mobility. 

Original article published in The Guardian – EIT Urban Mobility supported the Smart Cities segment of the Digital Transformation campaign that launched on 16^th within the Guardian. This segment looks showcases how infrastructure needs to adapt to accommodate the key challenges creating pressures on our ever-growing urban population and featured insightful content from Maria Tsavachidis and EIT Urban Mobility online.

“The smart city narrative has flipped. In the face of the climate emergency, the focus is now on ‘sustainable and inclusive’ cities — and how these can be enabled with smart tech” (Maria Tsavachidis, CEO at EIT Urban Mobility).

The narrative around ‘smart cities’ has changed. Previously, the focus was on how new technology — such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and other data-gathering innovations — could digitalise urban areas. It was missing a compelling explanation of why it was necessary and the environmental and efficiency benefits it could have.

Technology as a sustainable route

Now, the climate crisis emergency has forced governments and city planners to think in a completely different way. “Talk has moved away from ‘smart cities,’” says Maria Tsavachidis, CEO of EIT Urban Mobility, a European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) initiative working to encourage positive changes in the way people move around cities. “It’s now about ‘sustainable and inclusive’ cities — and how smart technology can be used as an enabler for net zero cities and a sustainable mobility transition. There’s been a recognition that it’s the purpose of this technology that matters most.”

Take the transition to sustainable urban mobility. Digital technologies have a key role to play in this area that could include smart tolling/parking, geofencing for low-emission zones and micromobility parking. To be successful, however, Tsavachidis notes that policies must be specifically tailored to local needs.

In the move to making cities more sustainable, we must ensure that we consider everything — and everyone.

Using intelligent tech in a beneficial and impactful way

Better transport infrastructure — including cycle lanes and e-charging locations — can be created with the use of smart planning tools such as digital twins and data analytics. “Even sustainability measures that seem low-tech, such as urban design and safe cycling infrastructure, need intelligence behind them if they are to be beneficial,” explains Tsavachidis.

Once any sustainability initiative is in place, it’s vital to measure its impact (such as monitoring pollution in low-emission zones). “You can’t improve what you don’t measure,” says Tsavachidis.

Digital tools that include every person

The recent Smart City Expo World Congress, and its spin-off ‘Tomorrow.Mobility,’ defined a smart city as ‘not only forward-thinking and sustainable but fully inclusive, leaving no one behind.’ That last point is important, stresses Tsavachidis because, in the rush to make cities more sustainable, inclusivity must not fall by the wayside.

“For instance, intelligent transport information is great for people who have smartphones,” she says. “But what about older people who may not have them? We should provide them with a solution, too. In the move to making cities more sustainable, we must ensure that we consider everything — and everyone.”

Original article published in The Guardian – EIT Urban Mobility supported the Smart Cities segment of the Digital Transformation campaign that launched on 16^th within the Guardian. This segment looks showcases how infrastructure needs to adapt to accommodate the key challenges creating pressures on our ever-growing urban population and featured insightful content from Maria Tsavachidis and EIT Urban Mobility online.

As the European Union wants to ban the sale of thermal cars from 2035, EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, is investing in the startup Beev, an electric vehicle comparator.

As part of its partnership with the Moove Lab, the EIT Urban Mobility is investing in the French startup Beev in order to support them to deploy on a European scale.

Since its foundation in 2019, the EIT Urban Mobility (with the mission to encourage positive changes in order to transform and improve the urban mobility landscape) has already invested 4 million euros in 45 mobility startups from 16 European countries.

In August 2022, the EIT Urban Mobility and the Moove Lab (reference accelerator for mobility startups located at Station F), announced their collaboration in order to develop the ecosystem of mobility startups in France and Europe. It allows to open up many opportunities for companies in the European portfolio of the EIT Urban Mobility who wish to develop on the French market, but French companies on a European scale.

A French start-up with a European vocation, Beev is an electric vehicle comparator bringing together all the offers available on the market. A reference for many experts, users can find the vehicle best suited to their needs and can obtain advantageous prices already negotiated thanks to the startup’s various partners. Co-founded by Chanez Djoudi and Solal Botbol, ​​this real-impact startup supports cars drivers in the energy transition.

In addition to the fundraising carried out by Beev at the start of the year, this investment of 185 K euros from EIT Urban Mobility confirms that the startup is responding to a problem on a European scale.

Keren Beit-Cohen, Head of Strategic Alliances at EIT Urban Mobility, says: “Although still at its beginning, Beev is already showing a promising growth rate and is highly valued by its users. Its services clearly enable a faster transition to vehicle electrification. Operating in a growing market that we urgently need to support, Beev has a significant financial, social and environmental impact and we are proud to be part of its development.”

In addition to its investment in the company, EIT Urban Mobility will support the Beev team in its pan-European expansion. It will thus ensure its access to the strong network of industrial partners, mobility experts, talents, local incubators, investors, and the entire ecosystem in the broad sense of the EIT Urban Mobility. Clément Guillemot, Program Manager of the Moove Lab, says: “The partnership concluded between the Moove Lab and the EIT Urban Mobility aimed to enable French startups to benefit from their powerful support. This investment in Beev, a Moove Lab alumni, who is at the heart of the transition to more sustainable mobility, is the most striking demonstration of the relevance and effectiveness of this partnership!”

About the Moove Lab

Born from the meeting between Mobilians and Via ID, the Moove Lab aims to accelerate the development of mobility startups. For 6 months, it offers tailor-made support from a team of experts and opportunities to collaborate with its leading mobility partners. All at Station F, the largest startup campus in the world located in Paris. Since 2017, nearly 70 mobility and autotech startups have been accelerated by the program. The Moove Lab is supported by leading partners: BMW Group France, Bridgestone, Cofidis, Roole, GEMY Automobiles, bee2link, BCA Expertise, Opteven, CETRI, ANFA, OPCO Mobilités and NextMove.

About Bev

Beev is a multi-brand electric vehicle comparator. It offers to connect car buyers and sellers and offers individuals advantageous prices thanks to its network of partners. It also offers LLD financing solutions and support for the installation of terminals.

EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, announced today that it is joining forces with 8200 Impact and its partner CityZone to act as its ecosystem agent in Israel for 2023. This collaboration aims to build bridges between the European and the Israeli mobility ecosystems, to support startups from both sides, and strives to unlock the untapped potential of the mobility sector.

Following the announcement of its collaboration with the Paris Ecosystem, in August this year, EIT Urban Mobility, is reaching out to collaborate with Israel’s vibrant startup ecosystem for strategic interventions, knowledge sharing and investment portfolio support. Israel boasts the highest startup density per capita in the world and the highest gross domestic spending on R&D in the OECD. In 2021, it raised a record of USD 26.5 billion in venture capital funding. Alongside fields like cybersecurity, fintech, IT & data infrastructures, Israel’s smart mobility ecosystem is gaining serious momentum in recent years, and   includes today over 600 startups, and is home to renowned companies such as Waze (acquired by Google), Mobileye and Moovit (acquired by Intel).

Amongst other activities, 8200 Impact and CityZone will hold workshops on impact investments for investors and startups, networking events and an exclusive two-month acceleration program for the most promising European and Israeli startups focusing on ‘Inclusive Mobility’. On top of that, EIT Urban Mobility will conduct strategic investments in two early-stage Israeli startups recommended by 8200 Impact and CityZone. The promising companies will have access to capital of up to 500.000 euros, as well as piloting opportunities in leading European cities and fast-track introductions to the largest pan-European mobility network.

Fredrik Hånell, Impact venture director at EIT Urban Mobility: “A diverse, well-functioning and dynamic ecosystem is crucial for start-up growth: for better access to diverse and bigger markets, industry leaders, support organizations, talent, knowledge, and capital. In EIT Urban Mobility we welcome this new collaboration with 8200 Impact and CityZone, to provide services both to mobility start-ups in Israel’s vibrant ecosystem, and to our European equity portfolio start-ups interested in Israel’s market and knowledge.” 

Since its creation, EIT Urban Mobility, with its investment capacities, has already invested 4 million euros in 45 mobility startups from 16 European and associated Horizon2020 countries, including Israel. Thanks to the intervention and expertise of the 8200 Impact and CityZone, EIT Urban Mobility will be able to better target the ventures that have innovative solutions with high impact potential on tomorrow’s mobility.

BACKGROUND

8200 IMPACT is the first and most prominent acceleration program and community in Israel for Impact-tech startups that aim to tackle significant social or environmental challenges through advanced technological solutions. Since it was founded by the 8200 Alumni Association in 2013, more than 80 ventures participated in the program and gained access to top-tier mentors, domain experts, strategic partners, and leading investors in Israel and worldwide.

CityZone is an Urban Tech Living Lab and Open Innovation hub, founded by Tel Aviv Yafo municipality, Tel Aviv University and Atidim Park Tel Aviv. CityZone operates a year-long Smart City and Smart Mobility startup acceleration program. The selected projects have the Tel Aviv municipality as a design partner, can test their technologies at the municipality’s sandbox in Atidim, and have access to the city’s data. In addition, CityZone has collaborations with cities and corporations around the world.

Europe is on its way to generate and make use of more data than ever. The project PrepDSpace4Mobility aims at contributing to the development of the common European mobility data space by supporting the creation of a technical infrastructure that will facilitate easy, cross-border access to key data for both passengers and freight. Given the enormous potential of data and digital technologies, the project is expected to have a positive impact on European competitiveness, society, and the environment.

By 2025, the data economy in the EU27 is set to account for more than 820 billion Euro, almost tripling from 2018; digital skills and competencies will also be pushed to new highs with the number of data professionals expected to rise to 11 million and two thirds of Europeans having developed basic digital skills.

A consortium of 17 partners, has kicked off the Preparatory Action for the Data Space for Mobility (PrepDSpace4Mobility) project in October 2022. Led and coordinated by acatech (Germany), activities are carried out by Amadeus SAS (France), EIT Urban Mobility,  an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the European Union, (Spain), FIWARE (Germany), FhG (Germany), IDSA (Germany), iSHARE (Netherlands), TNO (Netherlands), USI (Germany), VTT (Finland), EMTA (France), Group ADP (France), KU Leuven (Belgium), ERTICO (Belgium), BAST (Germany), UIH (Hungary), and MDS (Germany).

The European Commission has dedicated one million Euro to the 12-month project, funded under the Digital Europe Programme: A sequence of preparatory activities is carried out to lay the basis for the creation of a common European Mobility Data Space.

PrepDSpace4Mobility contributes to the European Commission’s Strategy for Data, by mapping existing data ecosystems which engage with storing, processing, or sharing mobility and transport data, an extensive catalogue of European transport data ecosystems will be created. Building on these activities, common ground, and suitable governance frameworks for securely sharing data and managing data exchange across Europe will be identified.

Through close collaboration with the Data Spaces Support Centre, synergies with other data spaces will be strengthened, aligned with the European Data Spaces Technical Framework. In this process, a diverse mix of private and public stakeholders will be brought together to join forces to push the necessary digital transformation.

Lucie Kirstein, Project coordinator: “With this project, we aim to lay the foundation for a future operational data space at European level that lives up to the expectations and requirements of mobility and logistics sectors, helping to create a community of public and private stakeholders aiming to share data based on trust, security, and sovereignty. This initiative is the first step of a sectoral translation of the European data strategy and a true European single market for data.”

The European strategy for data embraces the ever-increasing importance of emerging technologies and innovative data approaches by investing four to six billion Euro in the development of common European data spaces in strategic sectors, such as environment, health, and transportation[1].

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/fs_20_283

Mobility will be one of the main drivers of future growth, and on average, each €1 invested in sustainable innovative mobility can generate benefits of up to €3 by 2030.

Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress (TMWC) is a global event, co-organised by Fira de Barcelona and EIT Urban Mobility in the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona, focused on promoting the design and adoption of new sustainable urban mobility models and jointly organised with the Smart City Expo World Congress.

Over 80 speakers such as Kelly Larson, director of the Road Safety Programme at Bloomberg Philanthropies; Karen Vancluysen, secretary general of POLIS; Marco te Brömmelstroet, professor of Future of Urban Mobility at the University of Amsterdam; Mikael Colville-Andersen, Urban Design Expert and Thomas Geier, head of research and policy at the European Metropolitan Transport Authorities, Maria Tsavachidis, CEO of EIT Urban Mobility, participated in the more than 20 congress and innovation zone sessions of Tomorrow.Mobility. As part of the Congress, EIT urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, sponsored the venue of 20 innovative startups, another 7 showcased their solution in the Demo zone.

At this year’s edition, two studies produced by EIT Urban Mobility are unveiled. The first of the two focuses on the 15-minute city approach, an urban planning trend that aims at reorganising neighbourhoods in such a way that all citizens have every basic service accessible within 15 minutes at the most. The second study analyses the development of urban air mobility, a disruptive air transport system for both passengers and last-mile logistics in urban environments.

The 15-minute city

The 15-minute city, is quite a recent concept that has taken momentum in wake of the pandemic and has been picked up by many European cities. The goal is to create a city where people could reach all their basic essential social functions like living, working, commerce, healthcare, education, and entertainment at a 15-minute by walk or by bicycle. In Europe, more than €1bn in cycling-related infrastructure and 2,300 kilometers of new bike lanes have been spent since the pandemic began.

Three workshops were conducted with planning practitioners from the metropolitan region of Amsterdam, Ghent, Madrid, Milan, and Munich. A key output of this study is a roadmap for the implementation of ±15-minute city strategies to ensure access and considering all citizen’s needs, and in connection with suburb areas. 15-Minute City concepts need to be adapted to local circumstances and population groups: for instance, older people walking speed is on average around 3.5 km/h while the average speed is considered 5km/h. Hence, a 15-minute walk could represent 900-1000m at an average speed, while at a reduced speed it could be 700m.

Urban Air Mobility

Given the fast pace of innovation, air mobility is expected to become a reality in Europe within 3-5 years and air space above cities could become an extension of public space on the ground. The European UAM market size is predicted to be 4.2 billion EUR by 2030, representing a 31% global share[1]. To set up the scenes for an inclusive urban air mobility scheme, this first study explores the different evolution perspectives of the sector. The study collected practitioners’ insights on the development and implementation of UAM from 12 European countries from the academic, public, and private sector. 

Out of the sectorial experts, 89% expect that UAM applications will play a very important or important role in improving medical transport and support in medical emergency services. 63% of questionnaire respondents think that in the logistics field, UAM will play an important or a very important role in the transport of packages in industrial spaces. By contrast, only a minority of experts see a significant role in UAM applications in e-commerce and food deliveries. In terms of challenge, when moving forward with UAM, it is essential to consult citizens and it´s essential for them to feel safe, where subjective safety matters as much as objective ones. Traffic noise is the second main concern raised by the study, after safety, for the development of Urban Air Mobility for European citizens.

This report on Urban Air Mobility (UAM) provides insights on what future applications for UAM in Europe could look like. Contributions from more than 60 experts from the public and private sectors were collected via a questionnaire and during an in-person workshop with EIT Urban Mobility partners. 

Main topics addressed include the likely use cases for UAM in Europe, practitioners’ expectations as to its safety requirements and regulatory framework, and whether and how UAM can support cities in addressing their sustainable mobility objectives. 

This report was developed in collaboration with Skyroads and Alldots. 

The concept of 15mn city developed by Carlos Moreno has been increasingly popular over the past years. This study written by the Technical University of Munich explores the different dimensions of the 15mn city and looks at practical solutions to make cities and neighbourhoods more accessible and inclusive.

One of the study’s outputs consists of a roadmap with clear implementation steps, which aims to support city officials and practitioners in achieving the 15mn city. Based on the tool and analytical framework used, the study features 15mn city scores assessing the level of accessibility of different cities.

Both the tools and methodology used in the report can be applied to specific cities, supporting their transition to more liveable neighbourhoods.

The 8th edition of the Prague European Summit, a strategic platform established in 2015 to tackle pan-European challenges, will be held under the titled “Leading the Green and Digital Future?” in the Liechtenstein Palace, Prague, on 10-11 November 2022.

The summit is organised by two leading Czech think-tanks, Institute of International Relations and EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy under the auspices of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, as an accompanying event during the Czech presidency of the EU Council, and in cooperation with the Representation of the European Commission in the Czech Republic.

Thursday, 10 November, 17:20 – 18:50

• European Financial instrument to Support Innovation in Urban Mobility

This session is to give overall information about different European financial instrument in the field of urban mobility and facilitate access to finance for innovative businesses, cities, and other related entities in Europe. Participants can learn how to find and apply for suitable EU funding and tender opportunities.

Friday, 11 November, 10:30 – 11:20

• CEE Recovery and Resilience Plans: Accelerating the Transition towards a Zero-emission Transport Sector

Although the path for greening the transport sector has been drafted by the European Commission, Central and eastern European economies (CEE countries) face several common challenges to the decarbonization pathway. How can e-mobility adoption be encouraged across CEE countries, where households have lower purchasing power, and where the second-hand automobile market plays a key role? Are the EU countries on the right path to build a widely accessible charging infrastructure to keep up with the increasing number of newly sold electric vehicles? How can the CEE countries support the transformation of the automotive industry at the dawn of the new automotive order?
The session will count on the following as speakers:

• Szymon Byliński, Director of the Department of Electromobility and Hydrogen Economy at the Ministry of Climate and Environment, Poland
• Charlotte Nørlund Matthiessen, Policy Adviser in the Cabinet of European Commissioner of Transport
• Adina Vălean, European Commission
• Traian Urban, Director Innovation Hub East, EIT Urban Mobility
• Christoph Weiss, Senior Economist, Economics Department, European Investment Bank
• Michal Kadera, External Affairs Director, ŠKODA AUTO

Moderator: Katarína Svítková, Research Fellow at EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy

To register to attend: Prague European Summit 2022 (conrego.com)

BACKGROUND

About Prague European Summit

Prague European Summit forum gathers regularly around 400 high-level politicians, opinion makers, think-tankers, and public figures from all over the world. The main aim of the summit is to set the EU trends of the future through dialogue with the highest levels of the European public and private sphere, and to strengthen the role of the European Union in the world while building a sustainable and resilient society.

Previous summits had the honour to welcome as speakers personalities such as Borut Pahor (President of Slovenia), Alexander Schallenberg (former Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria), Ivan Korčok (Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia), Anže Logar (former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia), Federica Mogherini (former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy), Masamichi Kono (Deputy Secretary-General, OECD), Roberto Montella (Secretary-General, OSCE PA), Lilyana Pavlova (Vice President of the European Investment Bank), Frans Timmermans (Vice President of the European Commission) and many others.

When it comes to urban mobility, most people tend to think of the automotive or micromobility sectors. In Episode 15 of Conversations in the Park, sponsored by EIT Urban Mobility, we wanted to shine a light on a hugely important part of urban mobility: Urban Air Mobility (UAM).

Our host, Brittany Atkins, dove into the topic with expert guests Kshitija Desai and Alexander Ahrens to get a better understanding of the current state of urban air mobility, what the big news in the area is, and some of the logistics and perspectives behind it. 

Kshitija Desai is a market intelligence and strategic business development expert at UAM focused start-up Skyroads. She is also a Scholar of Female Innovators in Urban Mobility Program 2022 at UnternehmerTUM and a Business Development Advisor at Metro Hop. She has a strong passion for urban air mobility and advanced air mobility. 

Alexander Ahrens is CTO and head of consulting services at allDots, a consultancy that aims to produce urban air mobility solutions. He’s also a lead product and team development expert at wehyve GmbH. He enjoys creating solutions and solving problems in the automotive and unmanned aerospace industries.

In this episode, our guests examined the landscape of urban air mobility and where it is, where it’s headed, and how the progression is between nations.

Alexander touched on how he thinks urban air mobility will continue to progress and evolve, mentioning how traditional aviation companies may begin partnering with tech companies as an example. Kshitija gave insight into UAM from a start-up perspective, and how start-ups are at the forefront of the UAM sector and making big waves. 

Brittany, Kshitija and Alexander passionately examined the ins and outs of urban air mobility on this episode of Conversations in the Park – and we are proud to sponsor yet another informative discussion.

You can listen to the full discussion on Spotify and Apple Podcast, as well as anywhere podcasts are found.