On 26 October, EIT Urban Mobility hosted another edition of the Mobility Innovations Showroom, in Sitges. In collaboration with the International Mobility Congress, and with the co-organization of AMTU, ACCIO and AMB, the session consisted of a series of round tables with experts, followed by pitches from handpicked start-ups featured in EIT Urban Mobility’s Solutions Catalogue.
With more than 40 attendees from cities, public entities, and start-ups, this session brought food for thought, generating a dialogue between solution seekers and solution providers. Two topics were addressed, starting with the electrification of public transport and micromobility and finishing with reducing car commute for better air quality.
For the first block, electrification of public transport and micromobility, the debate started with a round table of public entities and cities, featuring:
- Tomás Megía, the Manager of Oficina OPTIMA for the Automotive and Mobility Industry Transformation of the Government of Catalonia
- Carles Labraña, the Technical Manager of AMTU – Association of Catalan Municipalities for Urban Mobility
- Maite Perez, the Head of Sustainable Planning Office at the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona
- Lluis Puerto, the Director of Market Development from EIT Urban Mobility, as the moderator
Two start-ups showcased their ready-to-market problems that addressed electrification challenges:
- OPTIMOB, presented by Applus+ IDIADA’s Guillem Badia, a web application that assists private and public bus fleet operators in managing the transition from a conventional to an electric fleet. In parallel, OPTIMOB helps identify the powertrain that best suits the mobility requirements for each route and its cost.
- SOLUM, presented by Luis Muñoz, a manufacturer of charging stations for electric bicycles and scooters. These stations are able to generate their own energy through a photovoltaic pavement without disturbing the urban environment. Solum commercializes via B2B with their clients being any urban edification where users can reach by an electric scooter or bicycle.
For the second and last block, reducing car commute for better air quality, the topic was kickstarted by another round table, this time composed of only local municipalities:
- Albert Muratet, the Head of the Mobility Office for the Municipality of Sant Cugat
- Lídia Pérez, the Head of the Mobility Office from the Municipality of Mataró
- María Falgas Castellá, the Technical Coordinator for the Public Space and Mobility Office of the Municipality of Esplugues de Llobregat
- María Paula Caycedo, the Director of EIT Urban Mobility’s Hub South, as the moderator
This discussion was complemented with pitches from two more EIT Urban Mobility-supported start-ups:
- Lobelia, presented by Aytor Naranjo, a climate science start-up specialising in physical climate risks, monitoring of ecosystems and air quality. Through terrestrial and satellite observation, software development and machine learning, Lobelia provides air quality data that fill data gaps due to low field sensor coverage.
- Ciclogreen, presented by Gregorio Magno, an online platform that allows city councils and companies to reward their employees and citizens with free gifts for using sustainable means of transport, accelerating the shift to sustainable mobility.
To finalise the event, a networking session was held to provide cities, start-ups and other stakeholders the opportunity to change contacts and accelerate change in urban mobility.
Published on 22nd November 2022. If you are interested in participating in future Showroom Events either as a co-organiser, or participant, contact us!
