Vehicle & Transportation Technology Innovation Meetings -, the only business convention in Italy dedicated to the automotive and transport industry, returns face-to-face on Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 March. An appointment that will bring together the international mobility community in the spaces of Officine Grandi Riparazioni in Turin (Corso Castelfidardo, 22), confirming Piedmont and its capital as landmarks in the sector.
The Italian Automobile capital, as Turin is called, always attentive to new technologies, will become, for two days, the beating heart of innovation in the mobility sector, with a wide-ranging look at vehicles, infrastructure and services available to people. A 2022 edition of VTM in clear growth that already sees the participation of over 300 companies, as evidence of the centrality of the topics covered and the desire of the companies, starting from the many SMEs in Piedmont, to expand their business opportunities. Promoted by the Piedmont Region and the Turin Chamber of Commerce and organized by Abe in collaboration with Ceipiemonte and ICE – Italian Trade Agency, it will be an opportunity to discuss on today’s major skills, innovations and topics: from the digitization of processes to the electrification of vehicles and batteries, hydrogen and innovative propulsion systems, software defined vehicles, ADAS systems and autonomous driving, connectivity and Big Data, micromobility and new models of sustainable and smart mobility.
“VTM is back, in presence, and this year, in the midst of a complex geopolitical situation due to a conflict that is inflaming Europe, it urges us to do even more. Ours is the only business convention dedicated to a strategic sector, such as the automotive one, organized in Italy and this data represents an honor but also a great responsibility. Stimulating and routing markets in a similar scenario, in fact, is a challenge that we are going to undertake also through a two-day discussion, analysis and dialogue such as that hosted at OGR. An event that will see emerging companies, industry giants and specialists interact, all gathered to ensure that the interests of individual companies become the interests of the sector and in turn the interests of the territory” says the Regional Councillor for Internationalization Fabrizio Ricca. “VTM, in recent years, has grown despite Covid. Regardless of the pandemic emergency, sometimes even spurred by an unfavorable economic situation, it has not stopped gaining support, consensus and generating important synergies that have led to the conclusion of contracts with an international scope. I am convinced that this year’s edition will also amaze us with its success.”
“It is important that Turin is again the place where the future of the national automotive industry is discussed and planned: in Piedmont 33.5% of the component companies operate and 35.8% of Italian turnover is achieved,” explains Dario Gallina, President of the Turin Chamber of Commerce, host sponsor of the event. “In this area, the future of the sector will be at stake. In fact, in recent years, it is at the centre of an epochal transformation: 62% of our companies are already experimenting with technologies related to new forms of mobility, including electric and hybrid powertrains, autonomous driving or hydrogen. However, this percentage has to grow: in this sense, VTM represents an excellent opportunity to confront the rapid evolution of the international market and plan new investments to stay competitive”.
“In these difficult years we have flanked more than 250 companies in the Automotive and Transport sector in their internationalization processes. And VTM, the most important international business convention in Italy for the sector, is part of this process” – says Dario Peirone, president of Ceipiemonte.“In this edition, just to show the companies that are at the center of our plans, we decided to listen to them one by one to find out needs and expectations to design together the strategic vision of the next edition of VTM”.
PARTICIPANTS AND SPONSORS
As many as 25 countries represented, over 300 companies (+15% compared to 2018) and 127 buyers, three times more than the 2018 edition, which will take part in 3,000 b2b meetings: these are the numbers with which VTM starts the 2022 edition.
AVL, BOSCH, Continental Engineering Services, CSI, Denso Italy, FEV, ITT, Keysight, Sabelt, Texa, Vishay are the international companies that return to VTM 2022 as they have done since the very first edition as sponsors.
The main sponsor of this edition is Intesa Sanpaolo together with its Innovation Center. Grape Up, Segula, Capgemini engineering, Accenture, Blue engineering, Daca-I, Punch Torino complete this prestigious list.
In addition, also for this edition, a space dedicated to innovative start-ups is confirmed, and it will see the presence of prestigious companies that propose solutions and technologies related to safety, smart mobility, artificial intelligence, micromobility and much more. Among these are the winners of the VTM 2020 contest which will take part in the 2022 edition and will be awarded: Drivesec, TriEye (Israel), Lifetouch, Jungo Connectivity (Israel), FLAG and 3 WINDY.
THE NOVELTY: 5GMETA, THE INNOVATION DATA CHALLENGE
A winning formula, that of VTM, anticipated by a major challenge: “5GMETA”, H2020 European project with the aim of strengthening the ecosystem of smart mobility. And more, this edition of the Piedmont B2B convention also includes a great novelty: the 5GMETA Hackathon, a 24-hour marathon starting on March 29 at Combo, in Corso Regina Margherita, 128 in Turin.
The volumes of data generated by vehicles and their application in connected and automated mobility will be at the heart of the 5GMETA Hackathon challenge, organized by LIFTT in collaboration with VTM.
Participants will work in teams and face three challenges: the first concerns road safety, the second the mobility of vehicles while the last focuses on services dedicated to individuals. Participants will have to develop ideas and business cases within 24 hours and conclude with a final presentation that will take place on March 30, during the opening session of VTM, at OGR. A qualified jury will evaluate all the projects and decide the best three with a total prize pool of 5,000 euros. The collaboration between the investment holding company LIFTT and VTM has already given rise to important results: two of the investments in LIFTT’s portfolio, Electra Vehicles and DriveSec, come from the past editions of VTM.
A TRADITION THAT PROJECTS TURIN AND PIEDMONT INTO THE FUTURE OF MOBILITY
Piedmont, with its capital Turin, the first capital of Italy, is a land of inventors, designers, engineers and the Automobile Capital thanks to Fiat and the numerous historical companies linked to the automotive tradition. A legacy that still today plays a key role for economy and innovation thanks to the many companies which work in the automotive and aerospace sector. VTM fits into this scenario and adds an important wealth of experience, trying to maintain and expand relations with foreign countries: an increasingly strategic and central but also complex sector, today more than ever.
PROGRAMME
Starting at 9 am, after the institutional greetings, prestigious speakers will discuss the implications of the automotive C.A.S.E. (Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electrified), innovation and the latest trends in the sector as well as the challenges related to the technological progress. On 30 March, there will be the preview presentation of the ANFIA Commercial and Industrial Vehicles Focus, with the latest industry data, and there will also be the award ceremony of the 5GMETA Hackathon.
The afternoon will also be marked by debates, panel sessions and discussions in the name of innovation, which will touch on issues such as digitization, software, connectivity, autonomous driving, hydrogen and much more.
Themes that will return the next day, Thursday, March 31. Among the tables dedicated to B2B meetings, there will still be electric mobility, software and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, purchasing and supply management and urban air mobility. The speakers already confirmed are Davide Mele (Deputy Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Enlarged Europe, Stellantis), Pierpaolo Antonioli (CEO & Board Chairman, PUNCH Torino), Camillo Mazza (General Manager Robert Bosch GmbH Branch in Italy), Stefan Pischinger (President and CEO, FEV Group), Aleksandar Damyanov (Green NCAP), Salvatore Musumeci (Head On Road Testing, CSI) and Gerhard Meister (Vice President Business Field Electrification, AVL). For the updated list of speakers, please check: https://italy.vehiclemeetings.com/index.php/conference/speakers-plenary-conference.html