EIT Urban Mobility participated in the 2022 edition of the EcoMotion Week in Tel Aviv, Israel from 9 to 12 May – the largest mobility event in Israel that celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. EcoMotion is a growing mobility community comprised of over 650 start-ups and 13 000 members and a joint venture of the Israel Innovation Institute along with the Smart Mobility Initiative of the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety, the Ministry of Economy, and the Israeli Automotive High-Tech industries. EIT Urban Mobility became a Gold Partner at the 2022 edition.
At the beginning of the EcoMotion Week, the EIT Urban Mobility delegation including representatives of partners and startups visited EIT Hub Israel for informal networking and a workshop with the Israeli mobility stakeholders such as Tel Aviv CityZone, Mobilion Ventures, Bird, Drive TLV and Airwayz Drones.
The participants discussed the importance of the increasing Israeli-EU mobility innovation collaboration and the major opportunities in doing so – Israel is a hotbed of innovation with one innovative company for every 1,400 people and Israeli companies are scaling up abroad due to the size of the local market. EIT Urban Mobility programmes and Calls for Proposals can offer that gateway to many countries in Europe. There is also a growing awareness of the benefits of innovative mobility solutions to Israeli municipalities and their preparedness to participate in innovation projects. An outreach location like EIT Hub Israel creates synergies between the EIT Community and the Israeli ecosystem and can help overcome cultural barriers that international players sometimes face when entering the Israeli market.
On the third day, Traian Urban, Director of Innovation Hub East, took part in the EU Roundtable with members of the European Commission’s Research and Innovation department. In his speech, he highlighted the need for innovative collaboration at all levels, between industry, research, and the public sector to achieve the goals of cutting transport emissions. “Key to our work is educating a new generation of urban mobility professionals – who can grasp the complexities of sustainability and are empowered to become the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. The Innovation Hub East is happy to work closely with Technion – Israel Institute of Technology” he added. The roundtable further underlined the importance of the EIT in the European innovation ecosystem and its global outreach.
EcoMotion Week culminated in the Main Event on 11 May at EXPO Tel Aviv featuring exhibition activities, live demos, and panel discussions. Over 3000 smart mobility professionals from all over the world visited the EXPO area. The EIT Urban Mobility delegation, together with partners CARNET, PowerHub, and Nimble Energy, was able to network and present the largest European innovation ecosystem at the dedicated booth area with a special focus on opportunities for start-ups and the EIT Urban Mobility Marketplace.
Fredrik Hånell, Business Creation Director at EIT Urban Mobility, took part in a panel discussion Infrastructure Transformation – What is required for smart mobility at the Main Stage. “High tech innovations depend on living labs for demonstration and life-like experience. We see startups mainly need two things to succeed in reaching a commercial deployment. First, a funding to support them during the piloting phase, and a selection of living labs so they can demonstrate their tech to prospective buyers” he commented.
Fredrik Hånell speaking at EcoMotion 2022
Bibi Blomqvist, COO and Co-Founder of Cogo, EIT Urban Mobility portfolio startup, addressed the audience at a panel Mass commute – Innovation in daily transportation. Cogo provides a common language to users, thus making it easy to change their mindsets so they choose shared mobility and green transport over using their own car.
EcoMotion Week provided a unique insight into the Israeli and global start-up scene. The 2023 edition will take place on 22-25 May in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Learn more about EcoMotion Week here.
