During 5 days, Rennes was turned into a playground for digital innovation in the transportation sector.
An [IN]door event targeted at the Business sector took the form of keynotes, workshops and conferences aimed at professionals, companies, start-ups and institutional clients. 900 digital professionals from France and all over the world united in Rennes for the event.
The [OUT]door section saw the city of Rennes become a testing-field for users to carry out full-scale trials of their solutions. This intended to foster companies to accelerate and ease the transition from the prototype stage to the distribution stage for their innovations. Thanks to the event, 20000 participants throughout the city with at heart, the idea to make the inhabitants of Rennes active in the future of their mobility around the area.
Modern expanding cities need to breathe and make life easier for their inhabitants. The solutions coming from more digital, innovative ways, of moving and transporting citizens needs to be confronted and to their future users. The “In Out” event in Rennes allowed this exchange and feedback from citizens directly.
Public transportation and mobility are matters directly related to the population of cities. Involving the citizens and exchanging those challenges is a major issue for any growing city and / or metropolis.
This international event was more than merely a conference or exhibition: it was set as a unique location (an incubator on a human-scale) where new mobility was being invented [IN]doors and tested [OUT]doors, with users, in real time.
It was a unique co-creation platform which gave industrial partners, start-ups and other new mobility players the opportunity to invent new mobility services and to experiment with and test new usages and new economic models, in close proximity to each and every citizen.
Given the success of this first edition, the city of Rennes is willing to repeat the event on a yearly basis.
At European level, InOut echoes EU endeavours such as CIVITAS and the Urban Mobility Package.
CIVITAS is a network of cities for cities dedicated to cleaner, better transport in Europe and beyond. Since it was launched by the European Commission in 2002, the CIVITAS Initiative has tested and implemented over 800 measures and urban transport solutions as part of demonstration projects in more than 80 Living Lab cities Europe-wide. CIVITAS offers practitioners opportunities to see innovative transport solutions being developed and deployed first-hand, and learn from peers and experts working in the field. CIVITAS nurtures political commitment, new marketable solutions, and offers funding and knowledge exchange with a view to creating growth and better connected, more sustainable transport modes.
With the Urban Mobility Package, the Commission reinforces its supporting measures in the area of urban transport by:
- Sharing experiences, show-casing best practices, and fostering cooperation
- Providing targeted financial support,
- Focusing research and innovation on delivering solutions for urban mobility challenges
- Involving the Member States and enhance international cooperation.
The central element of the Urban Mobility Package is the Communication "Together towards competitive and resource efficient urban mobility."
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/urban_mobility/ump_en
The shape of the event may inspire other EU initiatives such as the EUROPEAN MOBILITY WEEK campaign, an awareness-raising action that provides the perfect opportunity to present sustainable mobility alternatives to local residents and to explain the challenges that cities and towns are facing. By taking part, towns and cities can showcase the benefits of cleaner transport choices and make progress towards better mobility in Europe.
http://www.mobilityweek.eu/the-campaign/
