>> INTRODUCING term parkers, we have set ourselves the goal of establishing mobility CONNECT, the largest platform for interaction between mobility pro- viders and car park operators in Europe. In doing so, we are setting new standards. We can easily integrate new partners and offer open interfaces to mobility providers and system manufacturers. Technology is only one side of the coin. Other advantages are our in-depth industry knowledge and a well-cultivated community of interest that jointly drives this marketplace forward. Over the past seven years, evopark has evolved from a start-up to an important link between various stakehold- ers around the dormant space. And these stakeholders have one thing in common: they have realised that if they want to be successful in the future, they are not just backing one horse. Now it's a matter of networking and cleverly combining digital services. Whether end customer, mobility provider, operator or owner - everyone can benefit together if we manage to address interests across sectors. evopark is the decisive multiplier here. A stumbling block from the customer's point of view: EasyPark & Co. are often not even available in the on-street area - especially in smaller cities. Off-street, different, partly pro- prietary systems and media compete. What way out do you see? Do we need a monopolist like Google for the parking industry? I am absolutely no friend of monopolists - quite the opposite: as we know, a healthy mar- ket stimulates business. One must not forget that we are still at the beginning of a market transformation with regard to digitalisation. I am firmly convinced that in two to five years we will see a considerably greater coverage of services in Germany. The mobility providers will play a decisive role in this with their com- mitment in the on-street sector. Once digital services are established on-street, it is much easier to extend them to off-street parking ar- eas. At the same time, recognition technolo- gies are becoming more and more efficient and affordable and thus also offer an ever larger group of operators an attractive alterna- tive and/or supplement to their established, conventional services. The multi-storey car park and the car park are increasingly becoming a mobility hub: value-added services available there offer added value for customers. But where is the (added) value on the provider or owner side? Isn't the following rule of three looming: the more services, the less return there is for the individual? I see it a little differently. I am convinced that customers are always willing to pay for good service at the right time. Digitalisation offers a significant opportunity not only to make ser- vices more visible, but also to measure and optimise them better. In international com- parison, Germany often lags far behind in terms of parking rates. Digitalisation makes it much easier to implement concepts such as "dynamic pricing", for example, which also of- fers advantages for end customers, as a mar- ket-oriented price is charged for a service that is very much dependent on supply and de- mand. At the same time, many conventional operating costs can be saved through digital technologies; mechanical parts in pay stations and media such as tickets are only a small part of this. Our easy CONTRACT management solution, for example, replaces most paper- based processes and increases efficiency in long-term parking management. evopark GO is an elegant and streamlined way to quickly provide digital access to short-term parkers while gaining valuable insights into parking behaviour. Customers can be targeted more effectively and parking utilisation can be opti- mised. That is why I believe that digitalisation is more likely to increase the return on invest- ment. They describe evopark mobility CONNECT as the largest network of mobility providers in Europe. Understandable in view of the coop- erating mobility providers*. On the part of car park operators, however, there still seems to be a lot of room for improvement - perhaps precisely because of the previous question? Of course, for a long time we had to struggle with the well-known "chicken and egg" prob- lem: many wanted a large network of digital parking facilities for their customers, but did not want to take the first step. Currently, how- ever, it is becoming apparent that we will reach a critical mass, especially in urban centres. It will be exciting to see to what extent the large operators are willing to open up their stock to other mobility services. We are of the opinion that this new form of parking will soon be perceived as more "normal" than the classic ticketing and the walk to the pay station. How is the number of users of your platform developing? Together with our partners, we were able to record good increases in end-user transactions despite the difficult Corona year. What is strik- ing here is that the actual acceptance is very much dependent on a "buy in" from the re- spective operators. The more opportunities we have to promote the technology together with the operator, the faster customers register for the service. When you took office, you said: "Managing external stakeholders will be the key to suc- cess. Which stakeholders did you mean ex- actly? In my role, I am responsible for the expansion of a distribution network outside of Germany. We have a lot of plans for the next few years and want to internationalise the positive expe- riences and our know-how. As I mentioned, we have already had some successes in this re- gard. In addition, our Managing Director Henk de Bruin and I are continuously working on new partnerships and cooperations with mobility providers and system manufacturers. Together with our car park operator custom- ers, these are the external stakeholders I was talking about when I took office just over a year ago. Have you made any progress with this? The appetite is very big on all sides. We have won some new partners in 2020 and are al- ready in final negotiations with many more n about a cooperation. * As of 01/2021: PARK NOW (sub- sidiary of the BMW Group), Mercedes Benz Parkkarte, Porsche Parken Plus, PayByPhone – sunhill technologies (subsidiaries of Volkswagen Financial Services), EasyPark, Parkamo 26 26 Parking trend international no. 1-2021