Recently, uTrack participated in a call for proposals by DB mindbox, which connects startups with Deutsche Bahn Group through its startup program. The program not only offers its winners funding to run a 100-day proof of concept, it also offers a unique opportunity to test and accelerate ideas and products inside Deutsche Bahn using real DB data and the potential to lead to long-term collaboration. The program has been running since 2015 and has already supported more than 235 startups. Deutsche Bahn Group is Europe’s largest mobility and infrastructure provider with more than 300.000 employees.
uTrack applied to the “Regional Traffic 2024” call, part of which addresses the challenge of using buses as rail replacement services, or to be more precise, the challenge of tracking rail replacement buses in real-time. Having used our Origin and Rygo solutions in scenarios which provide similar challenges, we felt that DB’s use case was a great setting to run a proof of concept.
We are extremely pleased to be selected and are looking forward to collaborating with the DB mindbox and DB teams starting in June. We will use the blog as platform to talk about the pilot project, the collaboration with DB mindbox and to provide more insights into the challenges of tracking rail replacement services in real-time, ultimately trying to improve the passenger experience.
Today’s article is a review by Austin Birks, describing the selection day which was brilliantly organised by DB mindbox. The event was broadcast as a live stream for all those who were not available to attend the event in Berlin.
It is not often that I get excited by things in this taxing modern world that we live in, but I have to say that Wednesday, April 24th, will go down as a red-letter day for me and one or two others who tuned in live to watch nine companies from across Europe, who had met, would you believe, on a specially constructed stage in a railway station located deep in the heart of Berlin that is part of DB mindbox’s office space. Each of the companies had to give a strict 5-minute presentation to an expert panel of judges; they were then subject to questions from a panel of subject matter expert and a broad mix of audience members, all of whom had an interest in the subject of mass transit and ingenious schemes that could only make traveling better for the good folk of Germany.
At stake for the winners was a 25,000 Euro bursary as well as exclusive access to DB experts, data, markets and customers; however, the organizers had made it clear that if none of the presentations were good enough, then there would be no winners. So there was no certainty that anyone was going to walk away with anything. It was, as you would expect in Germany, very well organized, with the timetable followed to the second. About two-thirds of the presentations were delivered in German, so I just latched on as best I could with the presentations and general drift. The presentations delivered in English were much more digestible, and it is fair to say that the variety of presentations was extremely different. From an app that allowed bus passengers to know if there was any capacity to take their bikes onto the bus, to very clever systems that allowed unreliable electronic destination timetables at rail stations to be made reliable.
Each of the nine entrants had already been pre-selected as best in class from no doubt many entrants of start-ups keen to not only get their hands on 25,000 Euros, a decent amount of money, but if not of more value, significant exposure to potential new customers. Credit must be given to Yvonne Skalban who wrote the original submission that was shortlisted, along with help from uTrack’s CTO Conor Gildea. As each of the presentations came and went, I was getting increasingly more excited as the uTrack presentation loomed closer; we were number 7 in the batting order, and I was surprised just how excited I found myself getting as Conor Gildea and Yannik Herbert from uTrack got closer to giving their presentation. Interestingly, every person who was presenting was given a private lesson with an external company who specialises in coaching people giving presentations.
Before long, and after a good two and a half hours, eventually it was Conor and Yannik’s turn. Conor started the presentation and went straight into the role that uTrack had played during the COP-26 UN Climate Conference back in 2021 that took place in the UK, which hosted 120 world leaders and where uTrack was responsible for ensuring that 10,000 police were got to where they needed to be on time, every time over the three days, by tracking the on-site shuttles in real-time. The presentation was quite excellent, very direct; every minute was detailed and relevant, illustrating the challenges faced when working with multiple partners with multiple different technologies. As for the questions, they flowed thick and fast from an audience that had clearly engaged with the uTrack story; Yannik stepped up and gave incredibly detailed replies that were very well received. At the end of it, I was clapping; that is how impressed I was.
The tension was building as the judges then deliberated, and after another hour, the host passed the microphone to the first judge who simply said that the first winner was uTrack. At this point, I was screaming at the screen; it was a wonderful moment. I have been part of uTrack since 2007; I have watched it grow from tracking 4 buses on the 176 bus route in Worcester to here in April 2024, winning this funding call, from one of the biggest companies in the world. They smashed it, and I felt very proud of the company and the people in it. So: well done, team uTrack!
Origin
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