We are happy to share a guest blog from one of our Digital Day partner organizations, Tanja Kammerman from Swisscom, addressing one of the Digital Day themes: Mobility
What does the life of a mobile person look like in 2030? We suggest two possible scenarios.
Nicolas Altenberger is a 35 years old living in Zurich. Today, he is meeting a customer on the other end of town. He uses an app to check whether his favourite car pool is available and requests a pick-up at his house. An existing plug-in ensures the car arrives already pleasantly heated, despite the cold temperatures outside. Nicolas unlocks the car with his mobile phone. As he drives, he joins a conference call. On the motorway, he is surrounded by other autonomous vehicles, driving in dense platoons one behind the other. There is only one person in each car. Driving is much cheaper these days because it’s become so much more efficient. After reaching the motorway, Nicolas finds himself stuck in traffic. Unfortunately, this happens often.
He is two hours late for his meeting by the time he arrives. The vehicle has no trouble finding the customer’s exact location. The delay gives Nicolas plenty of time to prepare for the meeting. Advertising regularly pops up on his mobile phone screen, car suppliers use his data to send him targeted messages. After his meeting, Nicolas gets into a preheated car and heads back to his company headquarters. On the way, he has lunch and takes care of his emails and phone calls. An hour later, he is dropped off in front of the entrance and the vehicle automatically finds a parking spot in the multi-storey car park nearby.
Nicolas sits in his open-plan office. In the afternoon, his favourite retailer delivers his groceries to his car, along with parcels from the post office and other suppliers. In the evening, he uses a remote control to bring the car to the front of the building – of course pleasantly preheated. On his way home, he relaxes in the back seat with an episode of his favourite series on Netflix. He’s once again stuck in traffic. Advertising continues to pop up on his phone. At home, he locks the car with his smartphone. It drives itself to the underground garage of the car pool provider. Tomorrow, Nicolas wants to take the day off. On his car pool app, he sees that a sleek sports convertible is available – at a ridiculously low price.
Nicolas Altenberger is a 35 years old living in Zurich. Today, he is meeting a customer on the other end of town. Nicolas walks to his favourite co-working space just around the corner. The office is fully equipped with the technology to hold his customer meetings via video conference call. The experience is almost as good as being there in person. Through large glass panes he has a beautiful view outside. People are walking, cycling or using small vehicle-like devices. You can see electric scooters, Segways, new micro-mobiles and e-bikes.
Anytime Nicolas needs to go shopping, work, see a doctor or handle administrative work, he always asks himself whether he needs to be there in person or whether he can carry out these activities virtually. Cars are electric, autonomous and shared, and there are fewer and fewer of them on the road. Lisbon has calculated, for example, that today’s traffic could be handled by 10 percent of the vehicles. There is no longer a need for roadside parking. The freed up space is now available for active traffic. Nicolas loves to cycle through Zurich now.
After lunch, Nicolas strolls to the nearest micro-hub to pick up a parcel. These are pick-up and drop-off stations. By walking the final mile to the station instead of receiving the parcel at home, delivery traffic has been eliminated. He no longer needs to buy items overseas, he can 3D print them himself at the shop around the corner. In the afternoon, he works from home as his laundry basket is overflowing. In the evening, he wants to go to a festival with friends. They share a taxi and ensure it is filled to optimal capacity with other people joining their ride. When they book the taxi through the app, they can select whether they want to ride with more extroverted or introverted people.
