The European Union
is good in doing
many things. What
it is often lacking
however is an understanding
that overburdening regulation
is harmful and less efficient than
setting incentives. Regulation
in the field of digitalisation is in
its infancy, with many things just
starting to be regulated now or
where the previous regulation
is decades old – from the pre-
Smartphone age. There is hence
an opportunity for a fresh start in
many fields and this opportunity
should be used wisely.
Digitalisation holds an enormous
potential for many sectors. It is an
opportunity for Europe to retain its
wealth in the future. But the often
untapped potential needs to be
fully used. Regulation therefore
must not prevent innovation
and new business models from
unfolding. The challenge for the
European Institutions is to set the
right framework for established
companies and start-ups to
grow and adapt to digitalisation,
as well as to create futureproof
laws that will last in this
rapidly changing environment.
Furthermore, consumer trust in
new applications is crucial: users
need to trust new applications,
services or hardware in order to
make use of them.
Digitalisation and all that comes
with it can also be a new solution
to old problems. In the transport
sector it can help to reduce
emissions, relieve problems of
urbanisation and demographic
change, and create more space
on the roads to avoid traffic
jams. Mobility is one of the basic
needs of people living in modern
societies. However, in the past
years people have become
increasingly mobile and want to
go greater distances in shorter
periods of time for less money.
Possible solutions to the
above-mentioned problems
through digitalisation can be
summarised under the term
smart mobility. Smart mobility is
about connecting various modes
of transport (cars, trains, busses,
taxis, bikes) and integrating
them into one system. A system,
which enables the user to use
his smartphone to check the
quickest or cheapest way to his
destination, to find the closest
parking place, to book the
tickets or pay the service in one
place and to use it as a bike- or
car-key. It is also about new
ways and means of transport,
such as connected cars. But
smart mobility is also about
choosing "smartly" when to move.
Increasing flexibility of employees
that can more and more often
choose when to work (flexi-time)
and from where (home office)
enables people to get on the
road when there is less traffic.
The key to make these concepts
work is acceptance and
effectiveness: it must be easy,
quick, cheap and safe for the user
to use an app to find a parking
space, to use an electric car, an
autonomously driving car, or to
drive to work later as usual.
If smart mobility is a made
success, its potential is huge:
Preventing traffic jams, reducing
the time it takes to find a parking
space, and the use of electric
cars in cities would help reduce
emissions. Car- and bike-sharing
would create more space on the
roads. Autonomously driving
cars would make the roads
safer, prevent accidents, as well
as give people more time to
actually get things done while
driving somewhere. Integrated
multimodal door-to-door
transport possibilities would also
help elderly people that cannot
drive themselves any more to be
more independent.
From the regulatory side,
these developments need to
be accompanied wisely. I am
convinced that strict emission
targets in the transport sector in
Europe are not the smartest way
to reduce emissions.
Strict emission regulations
are very costly for automobile manufacturers. Funds that could
be used to develop new ideas
and services in the context of
smart mobility are currently used
to bring down the emissions of
their fleet. I believe digitalisation
of the transport sector will solve
many problems, including
reducing emissions from road
transport. Therefore, it is crucial
to develop solutions for smart
mobility and to encourage
research and development in this
field. To enable scale effects, it is
also important to create a system,
where transport offers of different
providers and manufacturers
can be used interchangeably
and are interoperable. A certain
degree of standards must be
set, that at the same time allows
for innovations. In the transport
sector, Europe could play a
leading role in developing good
innovative business models and
best practices. Strict and painful
regulation is harder to export than
beneficial business models that
spur the local economy.
Europe should tread very carefully
when regulating in the digital
sphere and that means doing
more with less. Overregulating
will hamper innovation.
Innovation, such as in the field
of smart mobility, in turn has a
huge potential for solving existing
problems. This holds true not only
for the transport sector, but many
others as well