Royal Schiphol Group (a Corporate Partner of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub), nlmtd and TNW (The Next Web) are teaming up to further accelerate innovation at the airport. nlmtd and TNW have extensive in-house expertise and a large, global network of start-ups and innovation partners that Schiphol can draw upon. The collaboration starts this spring with a trial involving self-driving buses.
Jan Zekveld, Head of Innovation, Royal Schiphol Group, said: “We need innovation to achieve our ambition: to become the world’s most sustainable airport. We anticipate that daily operations on Schiphol’s apron will have changed significantly by 2050. Ground-based activities such as baggage transport, passenger transport and aircraft towing will not only be clean, but also smart and autonomous. We have already taken the first steps in this field with TNW and nlmtd. We will conduct a trial of self-driving buses on Schiphol’s apron this spring. That way, we can determine what follow-up steps are needed in the future.”
Pieter Paul van Oerle, Founder of nlmtd partner Ecosystem Orchestration, commented: “Royal Schiphol Group’s ambition to create the world’s most sustainable, high-performance airports and thereby make a global impact on making the aviation sector more sustainable is inspiring. This is an ambition we are happy to contribute to and for which we can help mobilise the global Innovation Ecosystem. Self-driving busses are a first project we are collaborating on, and after that we will quickly pick up the pace by consistently connecting Schiphol with the best possible partners.”
Arno Nijhof, Director of TNW Programs, added: “We are delighted to help Schiphol accelerate their innovation projects. Where many companies scale back their innovation efforts in difficult times, Schiphol sees innovation as a solution. We can’t wait to find solutions in the market that enable autonomous transport or make work lighter for employees, and to collaborate with external innovators to improve air quality. Our goal is to help Schiphol become a more sustainable and future-proof organisation, and we are confident that this collaboration will contribute to that.”
