EIT Urban Mobility has achieved a substantial milestone: The General Assembly appointed Rob van Gijzel as the first independent Chairman of the Supervisory Board. We are therefore pleased to welcome and introduce our new Chair.
Mr. van Gijzel has extensive experience in the management of public institutions, public administration, the intersection of society and politics as well as a track record of promoting open innovation in Europe. He served two terms as Mayor of the municipality of Eindhoven and earlier was an elected Member of Parliament. During his political career, Mr. van Gijzel was engaged in the development of transport, traffic and infrastructure, and helped develop regional cooperation in innovation and promotion of entrepreneurship at Brainport Eindhoven, one of Europe’s prominent high-tech regions.
Mr. van Gijzel enters the role of Chairman of Supervisory Board of EIT Urban Mobility with significant experience of senior leadership in the fields of infrastructure, energy, public transportation, reintegration and housing. Besides his knowledge in the area of urban mobility, expertise on pan-European level and his proven capability of working in the knowledge triangle, he is contributing with his knowledge in the field of international exchange on topics such as smart cities by acting as World President of the International Community Forum Foundation (ICFF) in New York.
With entering his new position, Mr. van Gijzel states that “the EU is facing major societal challenges due to energy and climate issues, demographic developments and technological possibilities. There is still much to discover and develop. We are doing this in the interest of our European citizens and also in a unique way. European way, namely on the basis of cooperation between the business community, knowledge institutions and government, a powerful combination that makes it possible, as the European Commission has set itself the goal, to be at the forefront of important social and technological developments. This joint process, the triple helix, also creates new desired and necessary collaborations at regional level as well as interregional. In this way, European integration no longer only becomes a cooperation between governments, but also allows connections between people at local / regional level, in short an integration of at the bottom. One of the big challenges is realizing effective urban mobility in combination with the improvement of liveability. It is precisely in this area that the KIC Urban Mobility wants to challenge and support parties to jointly give substance to that new urban future.”
The EIT Urban Mobility community is delighted to have Rob van Gijzel as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and is looking forward to the fruitful collaboration.
