bIoTope is one of seven research and innovation projects of IoT-EPI. The project lays the foundation for creating open innovation ecosystems by providing a platform that enables companies to easily create new IoT systems and to rapidly harness available information.  Industry of interest are energy efficiency, electric cars, traffic, mobility and more.

bIoTopes open call offers startups, SMEs and research organizations the opportunity, to get involved into the bIoTope project and get funded with up to 150,000€. The open call focuses mainly on the following pilots: bottle bank management (Lyon), heat wave mitigation (Lyon), capital region school support (Brussels) and electrical vehicles charging (Helsinki). The overall funding for the open call is 420.000€. Application Deadline is 22nd of August 2017. Apply here!

One of the bIoTope pilots is located in Finland. The pilot aims to improve the charging structure of electric vehicles in Helsinki.

Problem: Scattered Infrastructure of Electric Vehicle Charging Poles

The massive roll out and usage of electrical cars in Finland is challenged by several factors that are mainly related to infrastructure for charging. The charging stations are located mainly within large cities. In order to ensure charging possibility, companies need to set up their own charging stations. There are two major players (Liikkenne Virta and Fortum) and several small companies that have their own charging poles, authentication and payment systems, mobile and web application where you can find, book, and pay for the services. The development of the infrastructure is driven by the interests and strategies of these companies. In the Nordic countries there is already an existing electrical infrastructure to pre-heat cars during winter time. With (or even without) some modifications they could be used for slow charging service.

Possible Solutions

There is neither a single entry point nor a standardized interface to access information about all existing charging possibilities (availability and calendars) in the area yet. There is a need to create such a system in Finland that would integrate all charging possibilities into the same place/map/service catalogue and provide complete information through user interfaces. Due to these challenges Finland has been lagging behind in adoption of electric vehicles, as there are currently less than 3000 of them on Finnish roads (goal is 250 000 by 2030). One of the reason for the low adoption is due to problems with charging infrastructure.

Call for Proposals

We invite proposals for building such platform for connecting different actors and service providers for an IoTBnB solution for locating stations and charging electric vehicles. This work involves technical development work, as well as communication and marketing activities for raising awareness of this topical issue.

Benefits for Electrical Car Manufacturers

Electrical car manufacturers do not have full information about charging possibilities that they could use in the car dashboard. At the moment car dashboards provide limited information about charging possibilities in some cases based on crowdsourced services. Car manufacturers/providers do not need to make separate contracts with all possible service providers in area. They get access to crowd-sources charging services. They don’t need to adapt implementation for each service providers’ proprietary interface. Thus they can deliver more cars into the region.

Benefits for Drivers

Drivers can find all possible charging stations in the region and thus have better opportunities to secure traveling. They would not need to know different providers in the region to have several subscriptions for different providers. Drivers can easily compare service levels and  prices. They can use the same access credentials for all charging stations. Additional benefit would be a parking solution for electrical cars which is important in crowded areas. Also the city and regions will achieve better life quality and services for people and more electrical vehicles to the region.

Benefits for Charging Service Providers

Charging service providers will be visible in all car dashboards. They can focus on certain service development and buy complementary services from others (for example, authentication and payment services). Number of electrical vehicles will increase and thus their business will grow. The ecosystem will create new business opportunities (operating of ecosystem, new business applications), improve current competitive landscape, and optimize public and private assets.

Objectives of bIoTope Project

bIoTope project aims to support municipalities and state to achieve the goal by development of new innovative technology that will improve charging services by increasing amount of charging stations, providing interoperability between different services suppliers, and improving quality of services.

It will be achieved by creating Systems of Systems (SoS) where information from cross-domain platforms, devices and other information sources can be accessed when, and as needed using standardized open APIs. bIoTope also offers a framework for security, privacy and trust that facilitates the responsible access, use, and ownership of data, even when data is stored in vertical applications/silos. Suitable billing mechanisms for IoT will be developed to support micro-transactions for facilitating IoT market creation.

If you are interested in applying for this open call, please submit your application through the platform F6S. Technical requirements and information about other pilots can be found on the bIoTope website.