Rethinking mobility in the capital region
7. March 2023 - Transport, mobility and logistics in Berlin and Brandenburg are facing a complex upheaval: It concerns the future of the automotive industry and the transformation in times of e-mobility and digitisation. The ReTraNetz Berlin Brandenburg was founded to advance the mobility transition and the associated new requirements for the vehicle industry. This regional transformation network – one of 27 that are financially supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics – had now extended an invitation to the first network forum.
For the first time, there was the opportunity to exchange ideas with all relevant stakeholders, to present strategies and initiatives that had already been developed and to take impulses on board. Stakeholders who are important in the region for the development of the vehicle industry and the infrastructure for sustainable mobility were invited. The workshop format focused specifically on four topics: Production processes, business models, employee qualification and co-determination and a “round table”.
The key issues highlighted here included:
- Changes and adaptations in training are important to secure competent employees
- Skilled workers must be recruited; and as a metropolitan region, Berlin has good arguments on its side
- Where there are not enough specialists, an attempt must be made to use intelligent assistance systems for support; so that even non-professionals could do more complex work
- The strength of the region lies in research and science
- Potential problems with supply chains need to be identified at an early stage, as supply is currently a major challenge for the industry
- Berlin and Brandenburg must work closely together in the transformation process, also to remain competitive
- Politicians must ensure good framework conditions for the transformation and support the mobility sector
The forum, which was held at the Fraunhofer IPK Production Technology Centre PTZ, was opened by Dr Stefan Franzke, Managing Director of Berlin Partner, and Professor Dr. Eckart Uhlmann, Institute Director of the Fraunhofer IPK.
The importance of the topic for the metropolitan region was also made clear by the high-ranking visitors: In his keynote speech, State Secretary Michael Kellner from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection emphasised the importance of including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the entire transformation process, but also that the strong start-up scene in Berlin is an important factor for the mobility industry.
The forum is to meet twice a year to present strategies and initiatives that have already been developed, to pick up new impulses from the network and to make appointments for the further process and joint initiatives.
The ReTraNetz BB is backed by an alliance of social partners (VME / bbw and IG Metall / bfw) business development agencies (Berlin Partner and Wirtschaftsförderung Land Brandenburg) and science (TU Berlin and Fraunhofer IPK). As the consortium leader, Berlin Partner manages the strategy development, communication and integration of other partners as well as the scouting and evaluation of mobility concepts, technologies and services. In addition to its expertise in innovation management, the business development agency also brings a global network along with it.
