On 15 March stakeholders from the automotive, mobile, and IT industries as well as consumer representatives and regulators participated in the Forum for Mobility and Society debate “ITS, Connected Mobility and Data Economy” hosted by MEPs Adina-Ioana Vălean and Henna Virkkunen.
MEP Vălean opened the event stating that the “the transport sector is yet to fully embrace the digital age. It is our responsibility as decision makers to design an appropriate framework that allows the market to offer innovative services”.
In the two panels, representatives from the Commission, Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior, ERTICO – ITS Europe, FIA Region I as well as BMW Group, Google, Michelin Travel Partner and Xerox addressed in-vehicle platforms for access to vehicle data and services provision and Big Data and the trends that are disrupting the mobility sector.
“We need interoperability and functioning business models for ITS deployment in Europe and important investments in digital transport infrastructure” – Hermann Meyer, ERTICO’s CEO, stated.
Speakers presented the different sectors point of view but they all conveyed that consumers deserve a wider and more integrated choice of transport services to satisfy their needs and expectations in a digital age.
“ITS related mobility services are provided via a complex value chain including continuous data transfer and processing. The functioning of this value chain depends on providing a value proposition to all the parties involved like vehicle manufacturers, network operators, system integrators, service providers and the user” Mr Meyer continued.
A clear message came from MEP Henna Virkkunen, who concluded the debate by saying “the EU has to accelerate development of technology”.
The event, organised with the assistance of and held at the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the EU was organised in the frame of the Forum for Mobility and Society which brings together the transport and mobility community to debate, draw long-term perspectives and develop visions for tomorrow’s mobility. ERTICO is part of the Forum together with other European key institutional actors including Members of the European Parliament, representatives from the European Commission, industry experts and society at large.
Photo credit: FIA Region I
