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.

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.

Is public transportation the answer to the energy crisis? Will it help to reduce emissions and boost the economy? Is urban air mobility ready to take off? These are some of the questions that 80 international experts will address from November 15 to 17 at Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress (TMWC), an event held in Barcelona and jointly organized by Fira de Barcelona and EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. Among the speakers are representatives from companies, governments and institutions such as Bloomberg Philanthropies, POLIS Network, the Ministry of Transport of the State of Baden-Württemberg and the European Metropolitan Transport Authorities.

Among the more than 80 experts taking part at the discussion are Kelly Larson, Leading Road Safety & Drowning Prevention work at Bloomberg Philanthropies; Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General at POLIS; Marco te Brömmelstroet, Professor in Urban Mobility Futures, University of Amsterdam; and Thomas Geier, Research and Policy Officer at European Metropolitan Transport Authorities, among others.

Maria Tsavachidis, CEO of EIT Urban Mobility and President of the Advisory Board of Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress said: “The shortcomings of today’s transport systems greatly impact the well-being and health of citizens and the environment. Transitioning to sustainable mobility requires us to rethink current systems and actors across industries and sectors to collaborate. Tomorrow.Mobility brings together the latest innovations, scientific insights, start-ups, transportation and urban sector professionals and policy makers to lead and inspire change”.

Mobility is an industry that will be one of the main drivers of future growth, with a market volume of 60,000 million euros in 2027. TMWC will also feature an exhibition space where more than a hundred companies such as Deloitte, BSM, Moventia, Racc, Renfe, Keolis and Mercedes will showcase their latest products. In addition, many institutions such as AMB, FGC, TMB, CARNET and ETRA will also take part in TMWC.

Wide Knowledge platform

Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress will be jointly held with Smart City Expo World Congress and PUZZLE X, establishing an unparalleled combination of events. Smart City Expo World Congress is the leading international summit for cities and smart urban solutions and on its 2022 edition it will gather over 1.000 exhibitors, 400 speakers and over 20,000 attendees from more than 100 countries and regions. PUZZLE X aims to grasp the potential of Frontier materials to solve some of the challenges that society is facing. Frontier and advanced materials, include quantum materials, low dimensional materials, 2D materials like graphene, advanced materials, and intelligent composites, among others.

EIT Urban Mobility and the Moove Lab are joining forces to accelerate the development of mobility start-ups. Their goal? Foster innovation in the European urban mobility landscape.

The Moove Lab is the leading mobility start-up incubator in France, founded in 2017 by MOBILIANS, the French aftermarket automotive professional association and Via ID, the new ventures arm of Mobivia. Based at Station F, the world’s biggest start-up campus located in Paris, the Moove Lab has contributed to the growth of 69 start-ups in 9 promotions, including 6 from other European countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, etc.).

The main purpose of this collaboration is to support the development of the mobility start-up ecosystem in France as well as in Europe. It will open up numerous opportunities on a European scale for French mobility start-ups as well as to EIT Urban Mobility’s pan-European portfolio companies who wish to expand to the French market.

EIT Urban Mobility will choose to invest in certain early stage start-ups recommended by the Moove Lab in order to accompany them throughout their product and business development. These young companies will have access to capital of up to 500.000 euros as well as fast-track introductions to the largest pan-European mobility network. The selected French companies will now have the necessary means to deploy their solutions throughout France and Europe.

Since its creation, EIT Urban Mobility has already invested a total of 3 million euros in 32 mobility startups from 16 European countries. Thanks to the intervention and expertise of the Moove Lab, the organisation will now be able to better target the nuggets that have innovative projects with high potential for tomorrow’s mobility.

As a specialist in coaching, training and mentoring start-ups, the Moove Lab will offer its services to young companies from EIT Urban Mobility portfolio. The selected start-ups will benefit from tailored support from a team of experts from the MOBILIANS and Via ID team, offices in Station F and collaboration opportunities with the Moove Lab’s partners in order to rapidly expand on the French market. Thus, the collaboration will allow European start-ups to discover the French innovation network and eventually establish themselves there.

“We are very pleased about this new collaboration with  EIT Urban Mobility. In 5 years, the Moove Lab has become the leading acceleration programme for all start-ups innovating in mobility. This programme is well established in the long term, with a stronger presence at Station F, and this new partnership reinforces its internationalisation. As a professional organisation, MOBILIANS has a major mission to anticipate changes in mobility and accelerate innovation. Thanks to this new partnership, the Moove Lab brings together all the conditions – in terms of business, benchmarking, coaching and training – for the successful development of our start-ups.” Xavier Horent, Managing Director of MOBILIANS.

“We are particularly pleased to announce this ambitious partnership between the Moove Lab and EIT Urban Mobility, which holds promising opportunities for the French start-up ecosystem. It is clearly in line with the European development of the programme already initiated at the beginning of the year with our partnership with Business France Germany, and more generally with the DNA of Via ID, co-founder of the European Startup Prize for Mobility.” David Schwarz, CEO of Via ID

To help mobility start-ups, EIT Urban Mobility has chosen, through the Moove Lab, a partner located in a strategic place: Paris. The City of Light has become a showcase for urban mobility and a launching pad for start-ups in the field. According to the latest 2021 State of European Mobility Tech Start-ups report published by the Mobility Club report by Via ID in partnership with Dealroom, the capital is ranked in the TOP 5 of mobility start-up hubs in Europe in terms of financing. It even ranks first in terms of the number of mobility start-ups.

“As a leading global ecosystem, the Moove Lab and Station F offer a unique opportunity for Horizon Europe start-ups to gain access to mobility expertise and the French market. This partnership strengthens our mission for more liveable cities by providing support, hot leads and investments for the best start-ups in our field”, says Fredrik Hånell, Business Creation Director at EIT Urban Mobility.

Finally, the goal of this partnership is also to establish the EIT Urban Mobility brand in the French mobility ecosystem. To this end, three Moove Lab x EIT Urban Mobility events will be organised over the next 18 months (conferences, workshops, networking, etc.). Keep an eye on our events calendar to hear more about them.

During the Velo-city conference 2022, that took place from the 14 until the 17 June, Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, was fully garnished with butterflies. Those represented the visual identity of the annual flagship event organised by our partner, the European Cyclist’s Federation, and that symbolises change, development and metamorphosis. Indeed, the Slovenian capital made a drastic shift in the last 10 years regarding cycling.

EIT Urban Mobility was fully present in Velo-city with a booth, that attracted those interested in our programmes and that could learn more about our mission, specially regarding Active Mobility.

During the 3 days event, different conferences brought together those involved in the policy, promotion and the provision of cycling facilities and programmes. Edwin Heesakkers, EIT Urban Mobility Innovation Hub West director, took part of the Focus on citizens, stakeholders and community plenary session on Wednesday. Heesakkers highlighted the importance to engage with youth, women and marginalised groups.

“We’re breaking the silos to make the changes together. Why? Because cities are for you, for us, for the people who live in them. And it is of utmost importance that each of you can have your say in designing the city you will live in” Edwin Heesakkers, EIT UM Innovation Hub West director

On Thursday, Anja Ilenič, EIT Urban Mobility RIS Hub Slovenia representative, took part of the Engaging citizens and building the cycling community session. Ilenič introduced EIT Urban Mobility, some of the RIS Hub Slovenia initiatives, and same as Heessakkers, also stressed the importance of involving the youth in the decision making process. The same morning, EIT Urban Mobility Innovation Lifecycle officer, Manuel Crespo Yáñez, attended the conference The latest innovations from bike-sharing and micromobility, where he presented one of our projects that was also present at Velo-city, Bicification.

“The future of urban mobility is active mobility” Manuel Crespo Yáñez, EIT UM Innovation Lifecycle officer

In order to preach by example, the EIT Urban Mobility team present in Ljubljana took part in the traditional Velo-city Bike Parade, together with hundreds of other enthusiastic bike lovers.

Indeed, the conferences are designed to encourage cycling as part of daily transport and recreation. Velo-city began in 1980 in Bremen (Germany) with deep ties in the founding of the European Cyclists’ Federation. The next world cycling summit will take place in May 2023 in Liepzig. More info here

The second edition of Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress (TMWC), the international event promoting the design and adoption of new sustainable urban mobility models, will be held in Barcelona from 15 to November under the theme What Moves You? Jointly organised with Fira Barcelona, our annual flagship event will gather the leading international experts and over 100 exhibiting companies to chart together the roadmap towards the future of mobility.

The Congress programme of TMWC 2022 will address the key challenges that an increasingly urbanised society is facing and will focus on the topics that will reshape mobility in the coming years, such as Mobility as a Service (MaaS), micromobility, Public Transport, Last Mile Logistics, Future and Digital Transportation, Transport Infrastructure, and Energy Transition & Efficiency, among others.

The event will be held alongside Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the benchmark tradeshow and congress on cities and smart urban solutions, setting the stage for an unparalleled platform of urban innovation that will bring together at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue over 1,000 exhibitors, including companies, cities, governments and institutions, and over 24,000 attendees.

Maria Tsavachidis, President of Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress and CEO of EIT Urban Mobility, said: “As the leading event for urban mobility innovation, Tomorrow.Mobility gives cities a powerful global voice and an innovative platform for common urban action. We are the meeting point for governments, companies, entrepreneurs, startups, research centres, and citizens, the place to showcase projects and find new solutions. We believe we must seize this opportunity to accelerate the transition to new mobility patterns that answer the urgent need for a paradigm shift that ensures a sustainable future and liveable cities.”

Among the first companies that have confirmed their presence at TMWC are Accenture, AENA, Axess, Deloitte, DOTT, Easymile, Electronic Trafic, Equinsa, FGC, Flowbird, Groupe Aéroport de Paris, Hayden AI, Kempower, Mastercard, Microsoft, Moventia, Nexus Geographics, Ouster, PBSC Urban Solutions, Plug Zen, Port de Barcelona, RACC, Social Car, Sprinx Technologies, TMB, Transport for London and Vodafone.

A 365-days-a-year platform

The goal of Tomorrow.Mobility is to go beyond a yearly event, and to do so, a digital content platform with a global reach was launched last year. Operating 365 days a year, it provides access to both live events and on demand contents divided into themes with the aim of facilitating knowledge transfer. It also includes tools for networking and the training of professionals.