On September 14, 2023, the virtual Mobility Meet Up took place, heralding the final spurt of the application phase for the German Mobility Award. More than 70 guests attended and discussed with mobility experts their visions for sustainable, inclusive and future-proof mobility in Germany.
Dr. Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital and Transport, opened the Mobility Meet Up with a welcoming speech. He emphasized the importance of creative ideas to create a mobility in which everyone can participate. The German Mobility Award is known for promoting pioneering mobility projects and stands for projects that use the potential of modern technologies in the field of mobility and environmental protection to strengthen Germany as a business location.
Mariel Sousa and Julia Nothnagel, the project coordinators of the German Mobility Award, then presented the award categories of the competition. These have been streamlined from nine to four categories, with a strong focus on connectivity, digitalization and artificial intelligence. In addition, for the first time there will be live voting for the Audience Award on November 30, which will be open to everyone in Germany. The wide range of opportunities for participation – from proposing mobility projects, to applying with their own innovative projects, to participating as a jury member – was emphasized, and it was pointed out that the winners of the German Mobility Award will be rewarded with a high media presence, which will increase the visibility and reach of their projects.
The current jury was then introduced and explained the relevance of the German Mobility Award.
Prof. Dr. Angela Francke kicked off the event. She is Professor for cycling infrastructure and local mobility at the University of Kassel – one of the very first cycling professorships. Francke emphasized her pleasure in recognizing innovative, creative, sustainable and scalable projects that rethink mobility in part or as a whole and look to the future.
Prof. Dr. Meike Jipp, member of the Executive Board for Energy and Transport at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), then introduced herself. She said she was pleased to be able to use the German Mobility Award to honor projects, innovations, ideas and concepts that inspire and contribute to achieving climate protection goals and emission-free transportation.
In his introduction as a jury member, Dr. Bernhard Kalkbrenner, Senior Manager at the Digital Hub Mobility of UnternehmerTUM, emphasized the importance of promoting new ideas and translating them from science into practice. He sees the German Mobility Award as an important initiative to make good projects, products and approaches visible and is pleased about the direct connection to UnternehmerTUM, which pursues the solutions and helps to implement them.
Christiane Möller, legal counsel for the The German Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted (DBSV), introduced herself in fourth place and explained that in her role as a jury member, she ensures that inclusive mobility is taken into account in all projects from the very beginning. Mobility is a human right and access should be guaranteed for all people with disabilities. Innovative, accessible mobility also offers competitive advantages as society ages and the need for accessible concepts increases.
Finally, Oliver Wolff, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) since 2011, was introduced. He is looking forward to applications and initiatives that aim to optimize traditional mobility through digitalization and create a seamless connection between the analog and digital worlds in the mobility sector.
During the second part of the Mobility Meet Up, the content of the competition was further explored in break-out sessions attended by numerous experts from the digital and mobility sectors. The discussions provided a deeper insight into different aspects of mobility, promoted the exchange of ideas and offered the opportunity to think together about sustainable solutions.
The Mobility Meet Up concluded with a preview of the German Mobility Award ceremony on November 30, 2023.
