Skoda says it is strengthening its innovative power and digital development expertise by establishing a digital lab in Prague. Creative teams will be exploring and developing new business models in the innovative ideas workshop. This will involve integrating digital technologies more strongly into Skoda’s current core business, and developing innovative connectivity and mobility services. The pilot phase for the development of the digital lab will run until the end of 2016. The digital lab is then going to operate as an independent Skoda business entity.
“The development of new digital technologies and solutions is of central importance for Skoda’s future development,” says Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier “We are preparing for the digital age with our Digital Lab. Digitisation, connectivity and new mobile services are among the cornerstones of our 2025 strategy. Our goal is to develop entirely new mobility solutions for our customers. The car shall remain our core product. In the future, we will complement this with services that make daily driving easier, safer, more efficient and comfortable. As a result, Skoda will be shifting from being purely a car manufacturer towards a mobility service provider.”
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Innovative connectivity and mobility services will make a significant contribution to the company’s future sales. The requirements for this are being created at the Skoda Digital Lab. Customer-oriented ideas and solutions can be quickly generated, tested and turned into marketable products.
In addition, the Skoda Digital Lab will be developing new working methods and forms of cooperation with external partners. This will include, among others, speed, adaptability and flexibility. The experience gained from the digital lab will be integrated into Skoda’s corporate culture. Following the fundamental change in the automotive industry, the company will be in a position to meet the requirements of modern industrial culture.
“We want to send out signals for the mobility of the future – both internally and externally,” explains André Wehner, head of corporate development and digitisation at Skoda. “The digital lab is creating the prerequisites for even greater innovative strength at Skoda, and will connect the automobile to the digital world.”
The exchange with other future workshops within the Volkswagen Group will be key. The Skoda Digital Lab will be working closely with the people responsible for digitising the Volkswagen Group and the brands. The exchange of experience and results will therefore benefit the entire Volkswagen Group.
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By GlobalDataAt the Skoda Digital Lab, creative minds from various fields will be developing ideas, and solutions – regardless of their parent company, start-up centre or incubator – that can be used in practice by the Czech automobile manufacturer. “With the Digital Lab, Skoda is taking a new path in the development of products and services. It will be important to optimally combine the learned working methods of the automotive industry with the requirements of the young digital world,” says Wehner.
The pilot phase of Skoda Digital Labs is currently underway. The Czech carmaker is working on this project in a strategic partnership with several development companies. IT professionals from Skoda and development companies are jointly developing novel technologies and solutions.
Skoda examined three vibrant areas of Prague, which are characterised by their creative environment, as possible locations for the digital lab. The Czech capital also has the advantage of being in close proximity to Skoda’s headquarters in Mladá Boleslav and leading technology companies in the country. The company envisages the workshop will commence operations as an independent Skoda business entity in 2017.
