Fostering the market adoption of the PoDIUM platform: Meet InCites

Meet our partner InCites Consulting, which is leading the Work Package on business analysis and CCAM sustainability strategy (WP6) and is managing the analysis of the business aspects in PoDIUM, a key part of the project to open up new business opportunities for the deployment of the PoDIUM platform.

InCites is a consulting company that supports ICT business leaders and policymakers to make informed decisions on winning business strategies, the best technology investments, and the most impactful policies for a sustainable, all-connected digital world. It also provides specialist, tailor-made ICT business and technology advisory, such as socio-economic and techno-economic analysis of new technologies, business modelling, demand forecasting of new services, and regulatory economics. In addition, InCites is actively engaged in selected EU Research & Innovation Projects in the areas of 5G, IoT (Internet of Things) and 6G.

Why business analysis matters

Conducting a comprehensive analysis of the business aspects of PoDIUM is essential for the success of the project. As part of Deliverable 6.1, which will be available soon here, InCites carried out different analyses in order to understand the market landscape, identify opportunities and challenges, develop viable business models, and ensure the long-term sustainability of the high-level platform architecture developed by PoDIUM.

More specifically, the following aspects were examined to gain a better understanding of the PoDIUM platform’s potential:

• Market Understanding: Understanding the market roles and relationships to identify key players, their roles, and their relationships within the ecosystem. This includes identifying key stakeholders such as fixed and mobile network operators, cloud providers, technology providers, road infrastructure operators, traffic management center (TMC) operators, vehicle manufacturers, technology providers, regulatory bodies, and end-users, which is essential for developing a platform that integrates seamlessly into the existing ecosystem and delivers value to all stakeholders.
• Factors Affecting Market Adoption: Identifying factors affecting market adoption contributes to the understanding of the drivers and barriers to the adoption of Connected, Cooperative, and Automated Mobility (CCAM) solutions. Factors such as technological characteristics, regulatory environment, consumer acceptance etc. can significantly impact the adoption of the PoDIUM platform. Understanding these factors allows project stakeholders to develop strategies to address barriers and capitalise on opportunities to accelerate market adoption.
• Market Analysis: This helps understand market dynamics, trends, and opportunities, which includes analysing market size, growth potential, competitive landscape, and emerging trends in CCAM. The market analysis provides valuable insights into customer needs, preferences, and behaviours, which can inform product development, marketing strategies, and business models.
• Business Modelling: Developing a robust business model is essential for ensuring the long-term viability and sustainability of the PoDIUM platform. This involves defining the value proposition, revenue streams, cost structure, pricing strategy, and distribution channels for the platform, aligning the interests of stakeholders, creating value for customers, and generating sustainable revenue streams. Business modelling also helps evaluate different business scenarios, assess risks, and identify opportunities for growth and expansion.
• Technoeconomic Analysis: This analysis involves evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of the project, which includes assessing the costs and benefits associated with developing and deploying the PoDIUM platform, estimating the return on investment (ROI), and conducting sensitivity analysis to understand the impact of different variables on project economics. This helps make informed decisions about resource allocation, investment priorities, and project feasibility.

Promising initial results

The results of the market analysis reveal promising prospects. Both the CCAM Market and PoDIUM’s Key Exploitable Results (KER) Markets show a dynamic environment ready for significant expansion, driven by positive factors like enhanced safety, reduced congestion, and improved mobility, as well as government support and technological developments. While challenges such as infrastructure constraints in emerging economies persist, market dynamics indicate a strong momentum, particularly in regions like Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific. With major stakeholders investing in innovative solutions and recent advancements, the landscape of CCAM and KERs continues to evolve, offering important opportunities for industry stakeholders and consumers alike. As the market continues to evolve, strategic investments and collaborative efforts will play a vital role in unlocking the full potential of CCAM and addressing future challenges.

Among the factors affecting the market adoption, the most crucial one identified is the ‘basic PoDIUM features for enhanced system performance/capabilities’, followed by ‘CCAM service management add-on features’ and ‘acceptance/flexibility’, with ‘business and strategy’ having the lowest weight. Among sub-criteria, the ‘trustworthiness of messages (authenticity and integrity)’ ranked highest, followed by ‘reliable communications’, ‘security and privacy’, ‘Road User (RU) detection and protection’ and ‘Support heterogeneity of RUs and communication channels’. The emphasis on the trustworthiness of messages (authenticity and integrity) as well as on security and reliability issues can be attributed to the critical and sensitive nature of the CCAM system. It is also interesting to note that the success of any CCAM platform in general and of the PoDIUM platform in particular is based on the availability and exchange of a high volume of data with a wide range of stakeholders, as revealed in the analysis of the market roles and relationships.

The next steps of the analysis of the business aspects of the PoDIUM solutions involve the drafting of the business models per use case as well as the technoeconomic analysis to ensure the viability of potential investments. In addition, the standardisation activities also play a crucial part in the development of the PoDIUM platform to ensure interoperability and compliance, among other aspects.

InCites and PoDIUM

InCites is proud to be a PoDIUM partner. CCAM technologies represent a rapidly growing market opportunity within the ICT sector, with advancements in technology that continue to reshape the transportation industry. By being part of PoDIUM, InCites can expand its offerings, meet client demand, gain expertise and valuable insights into emerging cutting-edge technologies beyond traditional ICT domains, form strategic partnerships, and contribute to positive societal and economic outcomes.

In PoDIUM, InCites participates in all the steps of the analysis related to the business aspects. It also actively contributes to the dissemination and exploitation activities of the project.

This article was originally published on PoDIUM. The original blog post can be found here.