International Expert Groups Driving Transformation Across Europe

In 2025, Drive2Transform successfully established four international expert groups that have become a central pillar of our European collaboration. Covering Electrification, Autonomous Vehicles, Connectivity and Platform Economy, each group met three to four times throughout the year to exchange insights, discuss trends and co-develop use cases. Across all sessions, 51 experts from companies, research institutions and business-support organisations actively contributed. Many of them also joined our regional workshops, the Driving Innovation sessions or our first Automotive Transformation Conference—creating strong links between regional and international activities. We sincerely thank all participating experts for their commitment, their insights and their strong willingness to share knowledge across borders.   Four groups, one shared ambition: accelerating transformation together Each expert group created an open space for exchange, peer learning and co-creation. A warm thank you goes to the moderators who guided the groups with strong expertise and dedication:

• Electrification – Silvia Mihalikova (SEVA)
• Autonomous Vehicles – Luk Palmen, Doris Straub and Stefan Hopfer (Silesia Automotive / Biz-Up Austria)
• Connectivity – Filipp Frei (NOI Techpark)
• Platform Economy – Lukas Waidelich & Luc Schmerber (Pforzheim University)

A special thanks goes to Pforzheim University (Prof. Bernhard Kölmel, Lukas Waidelich, Luc Schmerber), which developed the full workshop concept for the expert groups. This approach culminated in an internal workshop in Bolzano/South Tyrol at the end of October, where the results were evaluated, refined and aligned for the next project phase.   Insights, impulses and new connections Throughout the year, the experts enriched the groups with:

• practical inputs, company insights and impulse presentations
• breakout sessions on specific subtopics across all four thematic fields
• feedback on and refinement of the DRIVE2TRANSFORM project impulses
• regional and cross-border networking across Central Europe

Their contributions significantly strengthened the knowledge base and collaborative spirit within the Drive2Transform community.   Next steps: continuing the Expert Groups in 2026 Based on this experience the expert groups will continue in 2026. The next cycle starts in February 2026, when we will further develop the identified use cases and begin transferring them into practical application. We also look forward to the second Automotive Transformation Conference in Linz, Austria, where many of our experts from across Central Europe will meet on site.