The Innovation Program
The world of mobility is changing at an unprecedented pace. New technologies and new actors are emerging on the market each day. It is our responsibility to adapt to the world's evolving needs and expectations.
In 2019, we started an innovation programme to ensure that we meet the long-term needs of our passengers, staff and partners. We firmly believe that innovation improves the rail experience, increases passenger satisfaction and is essential for the development of our business.
Innovation at SNCB
Moor than 50 proofs-of-concept in five years
The Innovation Program has 3 main missions:
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"Innovation should not be concentrated in one department, but integrated at all levels of the company. In an ideal world, everyone at SNCB should be able to innovate in their own area.” - Stefan Costeur - |
We also have 5 pillars to carry out these missions successfully:
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“Since the Innovation Program was set up, we have organised over 80 events and webinars. Thanks to these gatherings, we've been able to get many projects off the ground and meet many colleagues.” - Vanessa Stichelmans - |
Our way of working
“When we created the Innovation Program, we were all convinced that it should act like a start-up within the company. A small team of intrapreneurs using fundamental principles such as an agile way of working and an open culture to create a better customer experience.”
- Stefan Costeur -
The innovation team works with numerous external partners, enabling it to act quickly and autonomously. Once a concept has been validated by passengers and/or employees, the Innovation Lab develops it and tests it on a small scale to gather rapid feedback. If the feedback is positive, the project is passed on to the business teams, who take over and develop it for all our travellers.
Many projects have already come to life, such as MoveSafe, the chatbot at the service of our customers 24/7 on Messenger, the silent carriages, the SNCB LabApp (similar to the SNCB app, implemented to quickly test new projects), real-time information on replacement buses, and many others that you can discover in the Innovation Lab section.
