What if there were a way to give the people in charge – whether decision makers, transport operators, funding programmes, or providers of products and services – the information and the tools they need to create automated, seamless, virtual, multi-modal and inclusive mobility?
‘”Technologies of easy travel” give us wings; they annihilate the toil and dust of pilgrimage; they spiritualize travel!’
– Nathaniel Hawthorne
Europe is undergoing significant changes in lifestyle: the breakdown of traditional families, multi-worker households, changing gender roles and so on. ICTs and social media are transforming the nature of social networks and the working lives of professionals with remote working options. New generations have grown up with ICTs and have absorbed these technologies into a specific lifestyle model that entails a reduced reliance on cars, an increase in sharing mobility and which maximises the use of smart phone technology.
The road less travelled? Photo: Liam Moloney
Developing guidelines and a Knowledge Centre
The aim of MIND-SETS is to better understand mobility decisions and create a set of practical guidelines for decision makers as well as product and service providers. These guidelines, in turn, are embedded within a MIND-SETS Knowledge Centre (MSKC), a comprehensive web portal providing guidance, intelligence and experience to stakeholders making mobility decisions in Europe and which will help producers predict how their market will think in the future. This will help them make smarter decisions leading to mobility-related policies, products, systems and services that better meet changing market requirements.
Who are the target groups for MIND-SETS?
The guidelines together with the ‘MIND-SETS Knowledge Centre’ (or ‘MSKC’), will support decision-making, create innovation in future mobility policies and assist the design and marketing of new products and services in a rapidly shifting market. There are six target groups:
- Policy-makers and planners (e.g. national ministries, city authorities);
- Public and private transport operators (e.g. operators on all major modes, car sharing companies, etc.);
- Suppliers of travel products and services (e.g. aircraft, vehicle and vessel manufacturers, infrastructure, components, ITS systems, ticketing and booking systems, etc.);
- User groups and transport worker associations (e.g. European Cyclists Federation, European Trade Union Confederation);
- Funding programmes (e.g. EBRD, EC Structural funding);
- Researchers (e.g. universities, research institutes, company based product research).
What do these target groups need in order to make smarter decisions?
What are the real needs of the market? Photo: Michael Saechang
- These target groups need to gain an improved understanding of how people think and behave in mobility decision-making, both individually and in groups;
- Each group’s understanding needs to be developed in relation to their specific decision-making context, be it a product design that aims to achieve full market acceptance, a new mobility service concept, such as smartphone-enabled car sharing, or a policy strategy to achieve changes in mobility behaviour;
- They will also require background intelligence to support decision-making, which will be provided through the MIND-SETS Knowledge Centre, with links to open data sources and relevant reports. This will include information on:
- Lifestyle trends and generational change;
- Mobility trends, attitudes and patterns (including internet and social media) among social groups;
- The implications of technological advancement on lifestyle and mobility.
How can these target groups use MIND-SETS?
The MIND-SETS guidelines will enable the decision-maker to mine the available data and intelligence with a clearer understanding of how the market will respond to their innovation, be it a policy initiative, a new service or product; or a combination of these. Specifically, stakeholders will have access to the following information:
- Who and what the target market consists of and its diversity;
- How the target market thinks – drivers and barriers;
- What primary actions are required to stimulate acceptance of the offer in the marketplace (be it a policy, product, new way of organising, business strategy etc.);
- How to monitor and review actions over time.
In addition, they can choose to use MIND-SETS either passively or actively, by either accessing the guidelines or engaging in active dialogue with the project. In the case of the latter, the project will lead stakeholders through the decision process, advising them on which intelligence sources to use, guiding them to similar situations and experiences in the MSKC database, and channelling them towards specific experts in the consortium.