The Institute for Mobility and Digital Innovation transfers digital principles to the field of transportation. Digital technologies have fundamentally changed the world we live in and they are about to change the mobility sector, too. The times are over when automotive companies are the sole driver of mobility innovation. Digital technologies will enable new vehicles, new services, a different use of mobility assets, and change mobility behavior as we know it. Leveraging advances in mobile technologies, smart sensors and data analysis, the Institute for Digital Innovation and Mobility provides insights into a digital approach to mobility. These insights help to better understand mobility systems and the people who use them. Our cities and every mobility company that wants to survive in a digital age will need such an understanding.

Digital technologies are changing all aspects of human society: They have transformed the way we communicate, the way we read, and even the way we find a boy-/girlfriend. Digital innovation is also changing the way we move. New business models like Uber, Lyft or car2go were not imaginable without digital technologies. But this is just the beginning.

Autonomous and electric vehicles are about to revolutionize the way we travel. This has tremendous impact on the environment, the economy, and society - and will turn whole industries upside down. New value chains and ecosystems are emerging - we are facing a paradigm shift. However, established companies often struggle to understand the changes caused by digital innovation and to take advantage of the new opportunities.

The Institute for Digital Innovation and Mobility addresses these changes. As experts for digital technologies, we investigate all aspects of digital transformation in the sector of mobility.
We aim to find ways to better serve the individuals’ mobility-needs at mass production efficiency by using smart technologies (Mass Customized Mobility). We strive to find new solutions that encourage more sustainable mobility behavior.

We are convinced that a wholistic approach to innovation requires knowledge from different fields, so we bring together curious people from diverse backgrounds to work on experiments, studies, and prototypes. We have a strong focus towards implementation and believe that good ideas prevail only if they are supported by a sustainable business model. That is why we work in inter-disciplinary teams and devote special attention to the design of business models which can later be applied in the real world and which can contribute to more innovation and a more sustainable mobility behavior.

Our work and helps both new and traditional mobility providers to better understand new technologies and to prepare for a more digital world.

The Institute is located at the Stuttgart Media University, a university that specializes on different aspects of media, with a strong focus on digital media. Key areas in that field are usability, software technology, web-technologies, and mobile systems.
The automotive industry traditionally is the major driver for the economy in the Stuttgart area. Global players like Bosch, Daimler, Mahle, Porsche, and many small and medium sized companies are based in and around the city. With digital technologies turning the mobility sector upside-down, major changes will like be ahead for Stuttgart as well. The Institute for Digital Innovation and Mobility contributes to the management of this transformation phase. It fosters collaboration between old and new players in the field of mobility and provides a neutral testbed for collaboration between different companies.