The first SMARTAUTO staff exchanged took place on 8-9 July 2026 in Shannon, County Clare, Ireland. The event was organised by Future Mobility Campus Ireland (in short: FMCI, https://fmci.ie/), Advisory Partner of the SMARTAUTO project. FMCI pioneers advanced land mobility solutions, with enhanced focus of automation. Therefore, it was a perfect location for hands-on, peer-to-peer learning that enabled regional policy makers, project teams, and stakeholders to share best practices, test local solutions, and build networks across different European countries.
FMCI brings a unique combination of competences and experience to the SMARTAUTO project:
- real-world testing and validation: FMCI’s state-of-the-art testbed facilities provide a unique environment for exploring the impacts of new technologies in real-world scenarios,
- collaborative ecosystem: FMCI fosters a collaborative ecosystem that brings together diverse stakeholders, including technology companies, researchers, and policymakers. This ecosystem facilitates knowledge sharing, innovation, and the development of comprehensive solutions for smart vehicles and automated vehicles (AVs),
- national facilitation and stakeholder engagement: FMCI leverages its position as a national facilitator to engage stakeholders in discussions on the current and future status of connected and AV policies. This ensures that the SMARTAUTO project aligns with regional and national priorities and regulatory frameworks, facilitating a smoother transition to widespread adoption,
- expertise in connected, autonomous, shared, and electric (CASE) vehicles: FMCI’s expertise in CASE vehicles ensures that the SMARTAUTO project benefits from the latest advancements in this rapidly evolving field, and
- commitment to sustainability: FMCI’s dedication to sustainable transportation aligns with the SMARTAUTO project’s goals of reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency.
The first day of the staff exchange was dedicated to hands-on solutions:
- provided an overview of FMCI, from its inception as a mobility innovation hub to the work they carry out day to day,
- showcased demonstrations of Vehicle to Everyhing (V2X), object recognition, data capture vehicles, and simulation technologies in FMCI workshop bays and control centre,
- provided an introduction to Provizio (Irish automotive radar company dealing with software defined radar & AI perception, Provizio), showcasing their 5D perception radars in action through demo drives and illustrate how FMCI staff and facilities supports such mobility innovators,
- conducted a tour to the Jaguar and Land Rover (in short: JLR: JLR) software development headquarter and vehicle workshops in Shannon,
- paid a visit to FMCI’s drone port (vertiport), and FMCI demonstrations on autonomous emergency braking systems on its proving ground.
The professional exchange of the first day was followed by a cultural program at Bunratty folk park with a tour, and was closed by a medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle.
During the second day, FMCI gave its SMARTAUTO international consortium partners the chance to share insights from their own regions.
Presentations included:
- a look into PIX Moving’s (PIX Moving) different purpose autonomous vehicles invented and produced in China that apply Level 4 autonmous driving systems. PIX Moving cooperates with the Bucharest Technical University that provides them their European testbed. This mobility company is a pioneer city robotics enterprise powered by Physical AI. Through a RaaS (Robot as a Service) subscription model, it provides cities with services centered around “mobile spaces”,
- innovations coming out of Széchenyi István University’s (Széchenyi István Egyetem) Vehicle Industry Research Centre. Their focus has been on electric cars from 2012 on, whilst autonomous vehicle (AV) research completed the profile from 2017 on, in a form of a dedicated organisational unit (the Research Centre). The cooperating partners of the Research Centre are Bosch, Gamma and Continental (AUMOVIO). In the AV field sensing, perception, planning, control, actuators (drive by wire – controls, steering) are addressed in Győr. They portfolio also includes automated, light armoured defense vehicles,
- experiences, challenges, and opportunities uncovered by IMT – Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes in Portugal. It is trusted lighthouse for mobility innovation and coordination, authorised to deal with rail, road, waterways, maritime transport, ports in the country. From the point of view of SMARTAUTO, IMT is also a type approval authority for vehicles (AVs included) in Portugal. The Portuguese intelligent mobility framework is also coordinated by this institue, within that different clusters exist for the purpose automated mobility,
- the Local Link case study from Clare County Council, showing how local municipalities support rural mobility in Ireland. Local link provides access to commuter rail, regional airport, town bus service, and in a lesser extent the classical local link services, i.e. daily 4-5 demand response transport services for the urban area. Local Link complemets the national services, it is attached to the national backbone infrastructure, with numerous private companies, but without integrated ticketing. The presentation also showcased properly the mobility challenges faced in Ireland: different levels of social acceptance, various forms of behavioural change, and the role of micro-mobility: bikes, e-bikes, scooters, e-sccoters.
The second day of the staff exchange gave participants an opportunity to pool knowledge and experiences, helping accelerate a cohesive and effective implementation of autonomous vehicles across Europe while considering the unique needs and challenges in each region.
We would like to thank the FMCI staff and experts for the useful, practice-oriented program and the kind hospitality!
The participation of the South Transdanubia Regional Innovation Agency in the SMARTAUTO Interreg Europe project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and Hungary.
