Co.Station brings players together to develop mobility solutions for Belgium

'co.mobility' brings together key players – including companies,  universities, public authorities  and institutions, etc – in an open innovation ecosystem so as to foster innovation and help solve current challenges in the mobility field in an efficient and sustainable manner. BNP Paribas Fortis is one of the founding members.

A core group of 30 partners

Co.Station, an innovative coworking space with premises in Brussels, Ghent and Charleroi, launched the new co.mobility platform with the support of seven founding members: AG, BNP Paribas Fortis, Brussels Airport Company, Infrabel, NMBS, MIVB and Touring. A further 30 partners, ranging from major corporations to startups, are expected to join the project and help to develop practical solutions towards sustainable mobility.

Co.Station is running and facilitating this initiative.  Ever since 2014, this organisation has been hosting startups and scale-ups working in the field of digital technology in specially designed workspaces in Brussels, Ghent and Charleroi. It clearly demonstrated its expertise as an ecosystem developer by co-creating in 2019 an energy system dubbed ‘The Internet of Energy’ (IOE), which brings together ELIA, Fluvius, Sibelga, Ores, RESA and 60 other companies.

From ideas to prototypes

Following on from energy, Co.Station intends to foster the creation of innovation ecosystems in a number of fields, including healthcare, media, smart buildings and food supplies. First out of the starting blocks is mobility in Belgium, with co.mobility. The potential opportunities include smart applications based on the use of mobility data; the automobile of the future, with such features as electric vehicles, self-driving cars and connected mobility; new services including mobility-on-request and micro-mobility, with small, innovative transport resources in urban areas; plus new smart infrastructure.

The ideation process began in April this year, with eight groups working in co-creation mode on eight practical ideas capable of providing answers to mobility challenges in Belgium. Five of these eight projects are scheduled to be further developed into fully-fledged prototypes during the autumn.

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