On 18 May, ACE Mobility organised its annual Future Day with the theme “the impact of digital mobility”. Speakers of KPN, TomTom, SZTAKI in Hungary and the University of Utrecht gave, from their expertise, an insight into the importance and role of digital mobility in their company or organisation.

The Future Day took place at the Summa College on the Automotive Campus in Helmond; in addition to a representation of visitors from the automotive industry, Automotive students from intermediate and higher vocational education were also present.

Impact of digital mobility

The automotive industry is undergoing major changes. Besides electrification, digitalisation within mobility also plays a major role. During the ACE Mobility Future Day, the focus was on the influence of digitisation within mobility. Both business and education came together during the Future Day to gain new insights into the various topics surrounding this subject.

Speakers and round table discussion

Edwin Bussem kicked off the Future Day with a lecture on the challenges KPN as a telecom provider has in the field of Smart Mobility. Paul Hesen of TomTom spoke about the development of digital maps for the application of forms of new mobility.

Balint Vanek, Senior Research Fellow of SZTAKI from Hungary was also our guest. He took the audience along on his research into autonomous vehicle systems. He also told about the test facility ZALAzone that SZTAKI developed in cooperation with the government for frequent testing of both autonomous vehicles and aviation applications.

Stella Donker of Utrecht University gave the audience many new insights with her research on the influence of human behaviour in autonomous driving.

The substantive programme concluded with a panel discussion in which Joëlle van den Broek (TNO), Frans Tillema (HAN lecturer), Chris Hottentot (ANWB) and Bas Geleijns (Fontys) talked about the Netherlands as a pioneer in digitalisation and the education sector that must continuously renew its programmes to keep up with developments.

Mini market student teams

After an interesting afternoon with many new insights, the group moved to the workplace of Summa College. Several student teams were ready to show their innovative projects to the public. Of course, this was an excellent opportunity for students to make valuable contacts and for companies and organisations to spar about the future of mobility.

Source and photography: ACE Mobility