Innovation Lab Success Stories

The Smoovit project, initiated in October 2019, has reached its completion after three years. The project united Volvo Group, various companies, educational institutions, government bodies, and authorities to discover new and more environmentally friendly approaches for transporting goods within cities. Smoovit devised a strategy to improve both the environmental impact and efficiency of urban transportation.

Volvo Group is working tirelessly towards being fossil-free by 2040 – and an important part of this commitment is investing in the future through our academic collaborations, which challenge students to provide new perspectives on industry needs. Through these partnerships, we look to provide a springboard for students today to become part of an inspired workforce tomorrow, paving the path with new ways of thinking.

Digitalization and connectivity are enabling new business possibilities in most industries. Developments of digital technologies can be used to change business models, create new business value, providing increased efficiency and saving money and reducing climate impact. The Innovation Lab at Volvo Group discovers, incubates, and accelerates new digital offers and ventures together with partners to create the next horizon of sustainable growth for Volvo Group.

Innovation Rock Stars is a video podcast series about innovation. A virtual stage for real-life stories about innovation, foresight, strategy and growth. Success or failure, opportunities or challenges, growth, or survival – in this series of podcasts, you’ll learn about the journey of the most innovative companies around the globe.

To further Volvo’s journey toward data excellence and a data-driven mindset, the Innovation Lab at Volvo Group hosted the first Volvo Group Data Summit in Mountain View, California in September. The summit brought together data scientists, analysts and business leaders around the globe to discuss how to maximize the value of data created by Volvo assets.

Starting in February, Smoovit, which manages the consolidation of cargo from different carriers, is now up and running in a living lab in Gothenburg. This smart logistics system will considerably help reduce the number of transports into the city. Right now, cargo bikes are being used as means of transportation, but it gets even better - DHL, one of the partners in the research project, is now using an electric truck from Volvo Trucks!

The Volvo Group Connected Solutions Innovation Lab hosted the Innovation Roundtable in collaboration with Plug and Play Tech Center on August 23rd and 24th. This event was attended by over 100 participants each day, offering insights and networking opportunities across industries.

Neuroscience-based software to detect driver behavior, accident-prevention systems for autonomous driving, smart charging for electric vehicles, and data connectivity and privacy are some of the innovations developed by the 11 startups that are joining MobilityXlab. They will now participate in the program for at least six months to co-create solutions for more efficient, cleaner and safer logistic and transport solutions.

Volvo Group joins the Plug and Play Supply Chain vertical. The Supply Chain vertical was launched in Silicon Valley location in 2017 and has grown to over 40 partners from around the world. Volvo can use Plug and Play’s platform to identify what is next on the horizon for supply chain and logistics and use those technologies for sustainable growth.

In the future, transports will be safer, cleaner, and more efficient. How? Take a look at Smoovit. The smart logistics system involves the consolidation of cargo from different carriers to reduce transports to the city centre. On February 15, the project went live.