Optimising the fast-charging infrastructure Within the framework of #WolfsburgDigital, the expansion of stationary and mobile fast-charging infrastructure is being taken to a new level. The basis for this is the gift that Volkswagen presented to the City of Wolfsburg on its 80th birthday. A working group for charging infrastructure between the City of Wolfsburg and Volkswagen is currently devising an overall concept for the distribution of the fast-charging infrastructure in the city area. On 21st June 2019, the e-Mobility Station in Wolfsburg celebrated the opening of Germany’s first ever fast-charging park, a facility offering high power charging in an urban setting.

As part of the #WolfsburgDigital initiative and in cooperation with Volkswagen AG and VfL Wolfsburg Fußball GmbH, there are currently plans for a new digitalisation centre. The project "Market Hall - Space for Digital Ideas" will form the new hotspot in Wolfsburg, covering 2,500 square metres with a co-working and maker space, a virtual and augmented reality lab, a broadcast studio, as well as a digital sports field and an event space. The Market Hall will bring all of these elements together to form the digital heart of the city centre and provide a location for experiences, experiments and work.

The public services organisation Stadtwerke Wolfsburg AG and its subsidiary WOBCOM GmbH are working consistently towards expanding the fibre optic network for Wolfsburg. The Work began in 2017 and the expansion is expected to be completed by 2021. With over 900 km of lines for several thousand kilometres of fibre optic cable, a total of 71,000 residential units, 2,600 commercial units, 200 units of public infrastructure and 150 suppliers will be connected. Based on the existing network, the city was divided into 42 "clusters" and gradually covered with the fast fibre optic network. With the new fibre optic network, you will have access to many digital applications such as "Smart Home", "Smart Energy" or "Smart Health". These types of applications generate vast amounts of data that go beyond the capacity of the copper cables used up to now. Thanks to fibre optics and the 300-fold increase in Internet speed, these data volumes can be sent and received in the shortest possible time. As a result, the path is now clear for increased digitalisation – all thanks to fibre optics.

This involves a data platform on which all public, freely available data can be viewed, for example: environmental and weather data, mobility and traffic data, budget data, minutes from public meetings. A digital infrastructure for Wolfsburg as a business location – an open source of knowledge and information for all citizens. The entire collection of data is to be stored on site at the public services organization Stadtwerke Wolfsburg AG, a trusted service provider. The vision is that Smart City Wolfsburg will become a leader in the use of an open data platform, promoting an environment where economic, social and democratic benefits of the new platform can be identified and implemented. The aim will be to utilize this potential in order to facilitate and instigate the development of Smart City applications that will bring together the core competencies available in Wolfsburg.