Car companies increasingly look like technology companies as the opening Porsche Digital Lab in Berlin shows. The Stuttgart-based automaker says it will be used to identify and test innovative information technology solutions. Porsche is working with its subsidiary, the Ludwigsburg-based company MHP, said to be one of the leading management and IT consultants in the automotive industry.
Networked mobility, intuitive control concepts, and the vehicle architectures of tomorrow are the key elements whereby new services and business models are hoped to appear.
“We are launching our initiative in the context of profound change in the industry. Digital transformation touches every part of the company – internal processes, customer interaction and our products and services,” claimed Lutz Meschke, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board and Member of the Executive Board, Finance and IT.
“Vehicles are becoming more and more networked and mobility concepts have changed, sparking a revolution in the automotive industry and bringing new competitors into play. In this environment, Porsche is aiming to become the most innovative brand in the field of exclusive and dynamic mobility,” Meschke said.
The Porsche Digital Lab employs several groups from Porsche and MHP, each of which is exploring how Porsche can take innovations from the fields of big data and machine learning, micro services and cloud technologies, Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things, and turn them into “practical solutions.” The teams will identify trends as well as build IT prototypes and components.
Porsche said the work “demands a creative approach and requires close contact with innovative technology companies.”
