Launch of the Digital Hub Mobility

UnternehmerTUM today launched the Digital Hub Mobility – in which, for the first time, major automobile companies and mobility providers, suppliers, technology start-ups and also partners from the scientific, public and digital sectors will all work together on the mobility of the future. The plan is to establish a leading-edge experimental and test environment for urban mobility concepts, with joint development of framework conditions for automated and connected driving, and development of services for connected mobility. The common goal: to strengthen Germany’s outstanding position as an innovation location for mobility solutions in international competition.

According to a current survey by the Bitkom e.V., 66 percent of all German citizens see great advantages in autonomous vehicles, 71 percent are in favour of them being tested on public roads, and 61 percent of all citizens would not even purchase a car at all if it were possible to summon a self-driving car at a moment’s notice. Mobility needs of customers are changing drastically, and new technologies are enabling better products and services to get faster from A to B, to transport loads more comfortably, and much more. “For Germany to retain its leading role in the mobility of the future, we need new horizons, as well as interdisciplinary collaboration from all stakeholders in the mobility sector. The Digital Hub Mobility in Munich offers the perfect conditions for this”, says Susanne Klatten, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of UnternehmerTUM.

State Minister Ilse Aigner agrees:
“Digitalization encompasses all areas of life, and it will also change the way we experience and live mobility in the future. The communication of cars with each other, and with the entire infrastructure, offers unprecedented opportunities, and these will include many disciplines that are still regarded as non-specialist today. In order to bring together all these different competencies as well as stakeholders from industry and science, a place of encounter is needed – the Digital Hub Mobility. Here, ideas will be exchanged, projects initiated, and joint ventures undertaken that will further strengthen Bavaria as a top location for innovative mobility solutions. Conditions in Bavaria are perfect for this: in the immediate vicinity there are large automobile companies, medium-sized suppliers, innovative ICT founders, and outstanding scientific institutions. In addition, the Bavarian state government is pressing ahead rapidly with the theme of digitalization and, with the recently created “Connected Mobility” platform at the Zentrum.Digitalisierung Bayern, it already has the future of mobility firmly in its sights.”

The plan: a leading-edge experimental and test environment for urban mobility concepts

Today, UnternehmerTUM is already an international leading platform for innovators from start-ups, companies and universities to co-develop new and scalable products and services. The goal of the activities within the scope of the Digital Hub Mobility in Munich is to create a leading-edge experimental and testing environment for the urban mobility concepts of the future. This requires systematic interconnection of initiatives and projects on city, state, federal and EU level, so that synergies can be effectively leveraged and new joint projects initiated from within the hub. It is only through intensive and trusting cooperation that complex systems and the necessary framework conditions for autonomous driving and connected mobility can be developed and established.

Developing digital services in just three months – the Digital Product School

What’s the fastest way for me to get from A to B using different types of transport? What about my luggage? How can I make better use of my travel time? Connected mobility only works with relevant services – such as mobile apps, IoT products, web portals and much more. In the Digital Product School, students, scientists and employees from partner companies develop digital services for flexible and connected mobility concepts within only three months. More than one hundred product managers, software developers, interaction designers and artificial intelligence specialists will work together here every year. Innovative and agile development methods are applied in hands-on projects, and digital products are implemented to solve specific customer problems in the mobility sector. This training programme is being offered by UnternehmerTUM in cooperation with IBM and the TU Munich.

The Digital Hub Mobility – a powerful digital ecosystem

The Digital Hub Initiative is an initiative of the German Government and Bitkom e.V. The Mobility Hub in Munich has further powerful partners:

At state level, the Zentrum Digitalisierung.Bayern offers excellent infrastructure in the field of digitalization. The “Connected Mobility” platform, in particular, offers numerous direct links to the Mobility Hub. The Bavar- ian Ministry of Economic Affairs is subsidizing the hub with around 500,000 euros.

Partners from the mobility and digital sectors are actively involved in the Mobility Hub: Audi, BMW Group, Daimler, IBM, Nokia, SAP, Stadtwerke München, ADAC, adidas, Infineon, MAN and TÜV Süd.

The patronage for the Mobility Hub has been assumed by the Federal Minister of Transport, Alexander Dobrindt.

State Minister Ilse Aigner, the Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of UnternehmerTUM, Susanne Klatten, and Thorsten Dirks, President of Bitkom, today jointly started the activities of the Hub Mobility at the IBM Watson IoT Center.