BMW Group Co-Creation Lab

MUNICH - 20 July, 2010: The BMW Group Idea Contest "Tomorrow's Urban Mobility Services" is the first open innovation project which is launched within BMW Group's latest innovation approach – The Co-Creation Lab of the BMW Group.

The Co-Creation Lab is a virtual meeting place for individuals interested in car related topics, eager to share their ideas and opinions on tomorrow’s automotive world with one of the leading car manufacturers. The Co-Creation Lab will be launched as a platform for future co-creation projects soon after the BMW Group Idea Contest. Members can then share their ideas for the automotive future and collaborate with other users and the team of the BMW Group.

The BMW Group Idea Contest " Tomorrow‘s Urban Mobility Services " was seeking new ideas for mobility services in tomorrow‘s urban areas. In total 497 users published around 300 ideas which were evaluated and commented by over 1000 persons worldwide. The final decision was submitted by the jury, represented by Jörg Reimann (Strategy and Innovative Mobility Services), Dr. Josef Koester (responsible for clients’ segmentation and Customer Foresight, BMW Group) and Marc Winterhoff (Director Global Head Automotive & Manufacturing, Arthur D. Little).

The winner of the contest is Venugopal Panicker who invented the PMUP- concept. PMUP for „Pick me up please” is a mobility-system for pedestrians. So called „trip cards“ installed in cell phones as well as in car computers enable the communication between driver and pedestrian.

The second and third winners are Pedro Isusi from Spain with the invention of a „park-sharing-programme“ and Stefanie Mainwaring from America with a concept that receives available parking spaces via GPS signals.

Details of the project and the winner’s ideas can be found under: www.bmwgroup-ideacontest.com.

The topic of the next contest will be: „Individualized interior equipment” presumably starting in August. We are looking forward to receiving many creative and innovative ideas.