Transport for London (TfL) has appointed Sopra Steria and Mercedes-Benz AG as partners on its new Innovation Collaboration Framework (ICF).
The four-year framework has been set up by TfL’s Open Innovation Team to work with the partners on a series of projects to develop new solutions in line with the Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy. These are focused on areas such as achieving sustainability, making public transport safer and helping services become more efficient and reliable.
TfL cited Sopra Steria’s role as a digital transformation specialist with considerable experience in the transport sector. This includes partnering with TfL to provide a range of services such as London’s traffic management system.
Luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz also works in the fields of electric mobility and vehicle software.
TfL said that working with the companies enables it to tap into valuable research and development investment and provide support in creating solutions. The partners will be able to work on problems as they emerge, taking a solution from concept to scale, and test new products on the TfL network.
Faster developments
The companies will also be able to reach out to other innovators including start-ups, academics, and SMEs to harness their ideas and expertise. By creating this framework, the time it takes to develop solutions should be reduced as partners can help identify appropriate innovators to address problems as they arise.
TfL emphasised that the ICF does not involve any cost to the taxpayer and provides the scope for commercialising any products developed in overseas markets.
A TfL spokesperson said the ultimate value of the framework will be subject to a range of factors, including this year’s mayoral election and future funding agreements with the Government.
Thomas Ableman, director of strategy and innovation at TfL, said: “TfL has ambitious goals to make London a more sustainable city. Neither Londoners nor the climate crisis will wait, so we need to move faster than ever before.
“The Innovation Collaboration Framework is a completely new way for us to work with the innovation marketplace and we’re really excited to welcome Mercedes-Benz AG and Sopra Steria as partners on this exciting new journey.”
