2020 had barely begun when ERTICO and Partners were on their way to the US on a fact finding mission to meet leading mobility companies and innovators including Uber, Lime, Waymo, and Volvo Group. Kicking off in San Francisco and the Silicon Valley, moving on to the world-famous CES in Las Vegas and with a final stop at the TRB in Washington D.C., the ERTICO Partner delegation shared expertise and showcased results to American counterparts.
“This ERTICO Partner delegation to the US brought together a wide range of Partners from different sectors and raised the quality of discussions to give a 360 degree perspective on the challenges we have ahead in the mobility sphere. I believe this approach reflects the true nature of ERTICO, bringing the mobility sectors together to find solutions to common challenges”, said ERTICO CEO Jacob Bangsgaard.
Many participants in the trip made their comments on the experience. Ricardo Vitorino, representing ERTICO Partner Ubiwhere, said, “The most useful part of the delegation for us were the opportunities to discuss with local transit authorities, to get a sense of current pain points, evaluate potential opportunities of collaboration and to demonstrate our expertise by showcasing results such as the Urban Platform, powered by innovative research developed in EU-funded projects, such as POCITYF,”.
“I found the ERTICO delegation to the US a very insightful, engaging and useful experience. A very well organised event, giving access to a diversity of companies ranging from start-ups, established mobility players, local authorities and hedge funds. This level of diversity gave a comprehensive perspective on what is happening within mobility. I would certainly recommend attending this type of event if you are looking for valuable learning and contacts across the mobility sector,” said Mark Collins on behalf of Transport for West Midlands.
“The UK Met Office was delighted to attend the visits to San Francisco, Silicon Valley and CES. The delegation was impressive and successful”, said Michael Szczepanski, Met Office, UK. “We would gladly recommend participation in future delegations to other organisations and will happily consider attending ourselves again.”
During five days of meetings between San Francisco and Las Vegas, Ubiwhere, Be-Mobile, Transport for West Midlands, the Government of Flanders’ Department of Mobility and Public Works, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), UK’s Met Office, and GEWI had a range of meetings with innovators and transport authorities. These included the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. The delegation presented its smart mobility solutions to Uber, Waymo, Lime, Volvo Group, and Plug and Play.
With a stop in Las Vegas, members were able to experience live demonstrations at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) including Humanising Autonomy’s prediction product and a variety of products and solutions showcased by ERTICO Partner Siemens, Blackberry, Qualcomm, HERE, TomTom, Panasonic and with the winner of the ERTICO Start-up Initiative Brighter AI.
