Partners Showcase New Findings From California–Sweden Innovation Projects

When California and Sweden align on sustainable mobility, the impact tends to move from policy statements to real-world pilots unusually fast. That momentum was on display on November 17 in San Francisco, where Future Mobility gathered partners to present the latest results from a series of bilateral innovation collaborations now taking shape across both regions. 

The seminar kicked off with keynote remarks from Henrik Bergefeldt, Swedish Deputy Consul General, and Inger Gustafsson, Head of Vinnova’s Silicon Valley office. They highlighted how Sweden is driving sustainable mobility as part of the 2024 Letter of Collaboration between Sweden and California. 

Emily Warren, Deputy Secretary for Innovative Mobility Solutions at the California State Transportation Agency, followed with an inspiring overview of how CalSTA supports eight state agencies in advancing innovation that promotes safety, equity, climate action, and economic prosperity. 

The centerpiece of the seminar was presentations from the leaders of five bilateral innovation collaboration activities, each addressing different facets of sustainable mobility. 

• UCity and the City of San José jointly develop and use augmented reality and digital twins to prepare for the introduction of mobility hubs.  

• Chalmers University of Technology and UC Davis together with industrial partners develop a multilevel bilateral innovation collaboration targeting the introduction of hydrogen trucks, connecting academic environments as well as system demonstration projects being planned for in both countries. 

• The automaker Zeekr, based in Sweden, collaborates with Waymo—the Californian frontrunner in robotaxis—to fine-tune a vehicle soon to be deployed in commercial operations. 

• Seamless Bay Area reported from an on-going project involving public transit actors in the Bay Area and Sweden that exchanges of public transit system management practices have great potential to enhance the services on both sides of the Atlantic. 

• Flox Intelligence, a start-up specialized in using sound to keep animals away from areas such as runways at airports, reported that its Future Mobility project involving a local airport in California and US. aviation regulators has had a big impact. The United States now constitute the most important market for the rapidly growing company. 

All presenters exemplified how the bilateral collaboration has contributed to value and new opportunities. It should also be noted that all collaborations are on-going and it remains to be seen what the full impact of Future Mobility’s seed funding might lead to.

Experts from Californian and Swedish agencies were involved in the project pitches, which were an important step in the process leading to 11 new bilateral projects being granted in the beginning of November. 

In addition, representatives from the Swedish Innovation Agency, California State Transportation Agency, California Public Utility Commission and California Air Resources Board, shared their views on how collaborations between California and Sweden can contribute and be further developed. 

Future Mobility organized the seminar in close collaboration with the Swedish Consulate General in San Francisco and the Green Transition Initiative. 

Take part of the presenters' presentations here

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