Czech Republic launches new platform to promote innovation in mobility and transportation

Projects that build upon ideas in the areas of autonomous driving, clean mobility, digitization, and other innovations in the areas of transportation and logistics will be supported and developed in the Czech Republic over the next five years as part of the country’s Mobility Innovation Hub, a new platform that will be launched this year by CzechInvest and the Czech Automotive Industry Association.

Currently in its preparation phase, the Mobility Innovation Hub is now seeking partners in both business and academic fields to help launch creative new ideas that will help jump-start the Czech economy in the automotive and other sectors in the years following the coronavirus crisis, and respond to some of the wide-reaching impacts of the global pandemic.

“Universities, the state, regions, companies, associations and individuals have joined in, and thanks to this connection, applicants can implement a number of great ideas and projects. Supporting the development of new innovative technologies has proved crucial at the time of coronavirus. It will be no less important for maintaining the competitiveness of the Czech economy in the future. A concrete step that can contribute to this is the launch of the Mobility Innovation Hub.”

One of the key areas the Mobility Innovation Hub will focus on is the development of the automotive industry, which directly employs about 170,000 people in the Czech Republic and makes up about a tenth of the country’s GDP.

The automotive industry has been particularly hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, both worldwide and within the Czech Republic. According to the Czech Automotive Industry Association, motor vehicle production has declined by about one-third year-on-year due to the pandemic; new innovations in the sector are key to helping it rebound in the coming years and respond to significant changes.

“The goal of the Mobility Innovation Hub program is to create a motivational environment that will use the strong economic and innovation potential of the Czech automotive industry to support the emergence of new solutions and services and accelerate the development of start-ups,” said Zdeněk Petzl, Executive Director of the Automotive Industry Association.

“The main strength of the Mobility Innovation Hub lies not only in its role as an accelerator of great ideas in the field of mobility and related production, but especially as a unique platform connecting new ideas and solutions with know-how and capacities of major companies in the Czech automotive industry. develop and implement in practice. In addition, large European economies are emerging from the coronavirus crisis by investing in clean mobility and innovation. We should not be left behind either.”

Operated by CzechInvest and financed by both state funding and resources of partners in both public and private sectors, the Mobility Innovation Hub is supported by ŠKODA AUTO, the Czech Automotive Industry Association (AutoSAP) and the Moravian-Silesian Automotive Cluster.