“Smart cities are inevitably the future in the long term. But what do we have to do to promote smart cities so that we as citizens can benefit faster and better?” With this question, eco board member Prof. Dr. Norbert Pohlmann gave the first important impulse in his welcoming speech.

When the Internet and mobility grow together, new synergies and business concepts emerge. In the Mobility Competence Group (CG) in the eco Association, industry experts will shed light on opportunities and challenges in the future, says the new CG Head, Martin Kumstel from Uber, in an interview.

Internet-based mobility ecosystems will significantly reduce the burden on city centres in the next five years. On average, the Smart City segment “Mobility, Transport & Logistics” is growing 19.6 per cent per year, according to the study “The Smart City Market in Germany, 2021-2026” by eco and Arthur D. Little.

Digital technologies and services enable high CO2 savings in cities and metropolitan areas. In this way, they make a significant contribution to climate protection and are indispensable on the way to a carbon-neutral city, the Smart City study by eco and Arthur D. Little shows.

The future belongs to Smart Cities, as evidenced by the new joint study by eco Association and the management consultancy ADL. The study forecasts an average annual growth in Germany of over 17 percent, corresponding to an increase in revenues of over 46 billion Euro within five years.

Following on from the regional state elections at the beginning of June, Saxony-Anhalt is on the verge of forming a new government. eco welcomes the fact that the planned tripartite alliance of CDU, SPD and FDP is focusing on digitalisation in the current draft of a coalition agreement, and that it is seeking to advance digitalisation with a ministry set up specifically for this purpose.