Ecosystems and partnerships for a Strong Rail system

Digitalization and global competition fundamentally change market conditions. For example, highly condensed innovation cycles are faster to create new markets, and there is growing pressure on established market players to innovate. We need to change into an ecosystem-­­focused Group so that we can tap into growth potential in this area and ensure DB Group stays competitive in the long-­­term. Ecosystems are a network of partners who work on common (or competing) value-­­added chains for a value proposition. In such partner­ship-­­organized value-added chains, the value created exceeds the sum of the individual stages of the chain on their own, for example through straightforward and improved customer experience or increased production efficiency. DB Group is therefore using strong partnerships to open up for greater innovation and is systematically forging partnerships on equal terms. DB Group is being transformed into an ecosystem-­focused company in close collaboration between central units and the relevant ecosystem units from the business units. DB DV acts as a Group-­­wide investment vehicle for all maturity levels; a common umbrella brand is used throughout the entire process to appeal to the market.

The first ecosystems are being developed or expanded in the following four areas:

• Production tech (in development): The digitalization of production processes allows us to increase efficiency in terms of added value in operational processes through cost savings, capacity increases and quality improvements in the integrated rail system. We are focusing on this ecosystem in particular in line with the Strong Rail strategy.
• Sustainability tech (in development): The development of sustainable value propositions and value-­­added chains
  addresses customers’ growing requirement to consume in an environmentally friendly way.
• Logistics (in development): Attractive value propositions and competitive value-­­added chains also require integrated transport and logistics solutions with partners. A suitable ecosystem unit is gradually being developed using the ecosystem approach in order to achieve this.
• New Mobility: NeMo stands for robust public transport: universal, straightforward and climate-­­friendly. The existing ecosystem unit offers integrated mobility in conjunction with passenger transport from a single provider for contracting organizations and municipalities.