Technological innovations are dramatically changing how we will be moving through our cities in the future. [Urban Mobility Explained (UMX)](http://bit.ly/3OZ5g57), the new YouTube channel powered by [EIT Urban Mobility](https://www.eiturbanmobility.eu/?utm_source=ATU), provides short and easy-to-follow videos that showcase cutting-edge practices and concepts in urban mobility throughout Europe and the world. All Things Urban partnered up with UMX, so you can tap into their state-of-the-art expertise and future-proof your career in urban mobility. This article covers three technological trends – electric mobility, data spaces and autonomous driving – that every urban practitioner needs to know to stay ahead of the curve.
# THE AUTONOMOUS FUTURE IS ALREADY HERE
No doubt, the most controversially discussed technology today in urbanism is autonomous driving. But how does this technology really work? Simply put, the vehicle is equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) software, which enables it to continuously learn and improve its functions – that’s the concept of machine learning. With radar and sensors, the vehicle recognises its surroundings, such as other road users, analyses and anticipates their behaviour and makes decisions on how to react based on the data it was previously trained with.
This technology has the potential to reduce accidents caused by human error, but also raises ethical challenges that need to be solved. In Europe, legal restrictions don’t yet allow fully autonomous vehicles on public roads, but the future has already arrived across the Atlantic. In the United States, tech and automotive companies are already testing their “robotaxis” for various commercial services with no human left in the driver’s seat. You don’t believe it? Follow Xavier Tackoen, CEO of Espaces-Mobilités, to the United States, and see for yourself:
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As Xavier Tackoen discovers in the video, companies are currently teaching their software how to operate in San Francisco – a city with an urban fabric comparable to European cities – in order to bring autonomous vehicles to Europe in the very near future. Although many European municipalities have started to restrict private vehicles in cities, car-centered urban planning won’t be reversed overnight. Therefore, urban practitioners worldwide should prepare for the arrival of autonomous vehicles in their cities and learn how to deal with them in a human-centered way.
# DATA SPACES FOR BETTER MOBILITY SERVICES
With a growing number of stakeholders providing mobility services for our cities, there are huge amounts of data being generated today. This data bears unlocked potential in improving multimodal transport and insight into related data, such as air pollution levels. But to benefit from this data, it needs to be made accessible to stakeholders in one commonly shared digital space. The next video teaches you the four principles of how to design data spaces and what impact they can have to transform our mobility patterns.
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As we learn in the video from Daniel Serra, EIT Urban Mobility Ecosystem & Stakeholders Director, making the data generated by both public and private companies accessible and usable for all stakeholders is one of the biggest challenges for the future of urban mobility. There still lies much hidden potential in urban data today which calls for specialized professionals to make sense of it and develop new services to improve urban mobility for everyone.
# SOLVING ENERGY AND CHARGING CHALLENGES
Facing the emission-caused climate crisis and public health risks of urban pollution, there is immense urgency to replace cars and buses still running on combustion engines with vehicles powered by electric energy. Watch the next video to go on a ride with Carles Casanovas, the first electric taxi driver in the city of Barcelona, and meet CARNET’s mobility experts who share how electric vehicles can support a sustainable mobility future and solution to our energy challenges.
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Today, companies and research institutions are not able to fill their open positions with qualified talent to develop and implement discussed technologies in our urban environments. This knowledge gap slows down our cities’ technological development but also leaves big potential for career growth for professionals to specialise in urban mobility technologies.
It is crucial for all urban practitioners to upgrade their skills in autonomous driving, urban data, electric vehicles and other urban mobility fields in order to qualify for impactful jobs in academia, public and private companies and work on a smart and sustainable future for our cities. Urban Mobility Explained by EIT Urban Mobility provides an easy entry into various fields of expertise – [subscribe here](http://bit.ly/3W2Sm8p)!
{{Pic1: This article is sponsored by EIT Urban Mobility — an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology working to encourage positive changes in the way people move around cities in order to make them more liveable places. }}