Digitalization and global competition are fundamentally changing market conditions: due to much shorter innovation cycles, markets develop faster, and there is growing pressure on established market players to innovate. We need to act in an ecosystem-focused manner in order to tap into growth potential in this area and ensure that DB Group stays competitive in the long term. DB Group is known for its openness to innovation, which is being systematically expanded through partnerships with the aid of DB Mindbox and Beyond1435 GmbH. Potential partners are selected based on the needs of the DB business units and their solutions are tested in non-binding pilot projects. If the results are promising, various cooperation models can be used to integrate them into the DB Group’s added value chain in order to harness the innovative strength and expertise of these partners on a long-term and binding basis. In line with the Strong Rail strategy, the current focus is on the areas of production and sustainability:

• Sustainability: Development of innovative, environmental and customer-focused solutions, particularly in the area of climate protection.
• Production: The digitalization of production processes makes it possible to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of operating processes. This means, among other things, that capacity increases and an increase in the availability of trains and cost savings can be achieved in the Integrated Rail System. As one of the first initiatives, we are driving ahead with the development of a central IT platform for the group-wide maintenance of vehicles.