Connected and automated vehicle developer Bosch has opened its new “Connectory” in London as an incubator for urban mobility solutions.
The company says the Shoreditch-based location is open to partners from the public, private and academic sectors, from start-ups to multinational organisations – with a dedicated goal, “to develop smart mobility solutions for London”.
Bosch has partnered with Nitrous, a platform facilitating projects between the private sector, start-ups and government.
In a statement the company comments that London’s population keeps growing, with latest forecasts predicting it will reach 10.8 million inhabitants by 2041. “To keep a capital this size moving is challenging and will require smart thinking – and modern technology,” it says. “Researchers expect the amount of daily trips to rise by a staggering six million in the future.”
Bosch says it believes that the key to overcome some of these challenges lies in the development of automated, electrified, connected, and personalised mobility.
The first partner to sign up is Transport for London who has begun an 18-month collaboration with Bosch to explore how the goals set out in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy can be addressed. These include seeing more efficient, greener and safer vehicles on the capital’s roads, reducing congestion and working towards 80% of all trips across London being made on foot, by bicycle or by public transport by 2041.
London’s Chief Digital Officer, Theo Blackwell, said, “London’s longstanding leadership in transport and city-wide open data creates the perfect platform for new collaborations with the tech sector. We want to do even more to utilise data and smart technology to meet the needs of our citizens. To do this we need to be bold and think big, and this involves being willing to try new ways of doing things. I’m confident that Connectory will be an important part of London’s future as a global test-bed for civic innovation, where the best ideas are developed and scaled.”
