We offer the interview with Fran Rodríguez, CRO at Net4things for Global Mobility Call in English published on its website
1.What expectations does Net4things have with the celebration of the Global Mobility Call 2022?
For us, this event Global Mobility Call is a strong commitment to position ourselves as one of the main players in connected and sustainable mobility in the world. We want to be in contact with all the social agents of this rich mobility ecosystem and establish a dialogue with companies, start-ups, associations and public bodies to address new business models that citizens now require.
2.Within this sum of efforts, what does your company contribute to this new international event?
We have been creating mobility solutions since 2016 for companies from many sectors including insurance, automotive, financial, transport, energy… that directly or indirectly experience mobility in their businesses. From the beginning, we have been at the forefront of innovation, adapting our technology quickly and agilely to the new demands of citizens who want digital, more sustainable, safer products that can be purchased instantly. Our products are already consolidated in the market and in different countries. For this reason, the Global Mobility Call is a huge opportunity to show the projects we are working on hand in hand with our partners and clients.
3.What advantages do Spain, and its companies, have in view of GMC’s goal of becoming a hub for sustainable mobility?
Spain is a country with companies that have developed interesting technological solutions, with great ideas and innovative contributions for citizens. With greater cooperation between public bodies, private companies, associations and citizens, and greater cohesion and flexibility in organizing current mobility, we can enjoy more sustainable places with suitable modes of transport that meet people’s needs. In addition, in Spain we have leading companies in various very relevant sectors in the field of mobility and sustainability: Infrastructure, Telecommunications, Automotive, Banking companies… world leaders in their sectors.
4.How are connectivity and the Internet of Things changing the automotive sector?
Connectivity and Internet of Things is making it possible to obtain a diagnosis of the vehicle in real time, for vehicles to exchange information with other vehicles, people and the surrounding infrastructure such as traffic lights, light signals, radars, pedestrian crossings, etc., to manage mobility in the most agile, useful and beneficial way for everyone. By obtaining data on what is happening, we know the reality and we can anticipate and act quickly and easily.
5.What steps should be taken in terms of technology to further advance in this type of technological solutions?
What we do in our company is transform mobility data into real use cases that generate value for our clients and that lead to an improvement in services using a single platform. In this way, all the information is centralized to have a global and unified control. We can sensorize any asset to connect it to our platform and integrate with other platforms to process this data and help make better decisions.
6. Beyond companies, what advantages can individuals find in connected car solutions?
The user has a great deal of information about the vehicle with different use cases derived from this information: if it is on or off, for example, is a relevant piece of information to know if your connected car is being stolen. Also, users have an emergency 112 assistance service that is activated in the event of a collision or impact and generates a warning to the emergency services, activating a protocol to help you as soon as possible in the exact place where you are. A system that saves lives, reduces the damage caused by the impact or collision and provides greater transparency about what really happened in the accident. The service also provides the condition of the vehicle and its revisions…, preventive maintenance etc.
7.Apart from Spain, what markets is Net4things most active in?
Our products and solutions are present in the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Indonesia, and we hope to expand this list in the coming months as we are working in several pilots with different companies mainly from the Telco, Banking and Infrastructure sectors.
8.The needs of customers and users change, and this poses challenges to the development of solutions. What is the challenge for your company?
We are in a wonderful moment where our connected, sustainable and safe mobility solutions acquire a relevant meaning for all those companies and organizations that want to participate and orchestrate mobility projects in an agile, dynamic and fast way. We are attentive to new innovations and trends, and we work side by side with all social agents to find out first-hand about their needs and requirements. In this way, our services and products evolve rapidly and are easily adapted to customer demands.
9.The European context is important. In what position is Spain in the development of technology for mobility services compared to other EU countries?
Spain is a pioneer in various sectors. As we have mentioned before, in Spain there are world-leading companies in different sectors.
10.What opportunities does The Next Generation EU Funds and the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, bring to your sector and to Net4things in particular?
The Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, financed through European funds Next Generation EU, promotes the digital transformation of municipalities and local entities. This aid makes it easier for these organizations to invest in mobility projects and services for citizens with modernized infrastructure and agile, powerful and affordable services. This is where we come into play. We offer instant automatic toll services, repair of breakdowns in a nearby or optimal workshop to speed up the time that you do not have your vehicle, specific discounts so that when you recharge your electric car you can enjoy a good coffee, and the possibility of using any means of transport according to your carbon footprint, entering your garage with your vehicle without having to use the remote control to open it and monitoring the elderly in real time to know where they are at any time, etc.
A wide range of opportunities that enable cost and energy savings, minimize the environmental impact for companies and satisfy the new habits of citizens who want to move around the city in a healthy and sustainable way.