Leading suppliers of technology and services Bosch India has announced that it has, in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), jointly launched a Green Urban Mobility Innovation initiative to implement sustainable, inclusive, and smart mobility solutions across several Indian cities.
The initiative is under the aegis of the Green Urban Mobility Partnership (GUMP) between the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) of the Government of India and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
According to a press release from Bosch, both companies will aim to enhance India’s green urban mobility and transportation system through an industry-led, pre-competitive multi-stakeholder platform for innovation, collaboration, and prototyping.
This flagship Indo-German initiative will combine Bosch’s technical know-how of mobility innovation and strong local presence with GIZ’s public and private sector network to set up a ‘Living Lab’ in Bengaluru. In addition to serving as a real-life testing environment for green urban mobility innovations, the Living Labs will entail a secretariat, governance structure, and an expert panel to select and discuss innovations.
The Green Urban Mobility Innovation project is supported by develoPPP, BMZ’s funding programme to encourage sustainability initiatives by the private sector in developing countries. As part of the cooperation, Bosch will deploy a team from Bengaluru and Germany to conduct a needs assessment, lead data and performance analysis of prototyping activities, and contribute with its network of mobility innovators to expand the ‘Living Lab’ innovation community. GIZ public and private partner network will help create a neutral platform for all stakeholders to cooperate in.
Soumitra Bhattacharya, President and MD, Bosch India, said that developing green urban mobility solutions is a step closer to creating a better sustainable environment, especially in countries like India with Air Quality Index at alarming levels. Moreover, the initiative provides a great opportunity for deeper cooperation between industry and government to bring about innovative, equitable and sustainable change. “At the Living Lab, we aim to encourage innovations around green mobility and develop them in relation to the Indian context with GIZ,” he added.
Dr Julie Reviere, Country Director, GIZ India, said, “Supporting public-private and multi-stakeholder collaboration is a key principle of GIZ India. With this initiative, we assist in establishing a multi-stakeholder platform on Green Urban Mobility Innovation, hereby engaging more than 100 stakeholders from the public sector, technology companies, start-ups and other innovators. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ is already supporting the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in planning and implementation of a sustainable urban transport system in selected Indian cities. The Living Lab will facilitate the co-creation and adoption of innovative technology solutions with a high social and environmental impact for Indian cities. We are confident that our efforts will have a lasting impact on India’s transportation and mobility ecosystem.”
NB: Photo is representational.