Co-creation and innovation: the Optimise Prime initiative

The Optimise Prime initiative is the world’s biggest trial of commercial electric vehicles – a project where Hitachi Vantara, along with other consortium partners from leading companies, including UK Power Networks, Centrica, Uber, Royal Mail, Scottish and Electricity Networks, Hitachi Capital and Hitachi Europe are coming together to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.

On the panel, you’ll get the chance to hear from industry peers about the advantages of co-creation and their experience working together on this initiative. It will be a unique opportunity to hear how using large, real-life datasets is changing the world we live in, and how we can co-create to deliver a better outcome to society.

Stuart Fowler, DNO Commercial Manager, Centrica
Stuart has worked in the energy industry for 30 years. Prior to joining Centrica Distributed Energy and Power in April 2017, Stuart spent 10 years in consulting with a major focus on delivering innovation projects for WPD. He was the project manager for WPD’s Low Carbon Network Fund Project FALCON and undertook a number of other deliveries for WPD in the innovation space. Since joining Centrica Stuart has managed the platform delivery for Cornwall LEM and is now responsible for the Centrica deliverables within Optimise Prime. His role at Centrica gives him the opportunity to explore how Centrica solutions can work with DNOs and other innovators to deliver the energy of the future.

Lorna McAtear, Head of Supply and Internal Accounts, Royal Mail
Lorna joined E.ON as an IT Project Manager before moving to the fleet team to head up group-wide telematics and carbon reduction projects, subsequently being appointed Commercial Vehicle Manager. Having worked in Germany on a global fleet project she returned to the UK and joined Royal Mail in 2014. Having spent most of her time at Royal Mail as the Head of fleet supply she now has responsibility for owning the Electric Vehicle design and project lead for the group. She holds an international CPC, is a regular and respected contributor at conferences and industry round tables, including recent Clean Air Zone events and is a judge for the commercial fleet awards.

Suzanne Phillips, Head of Mobility Solutions, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions
Suzanne has recently taken on the role of Head of Mobility Solutions, a role focussed on navigating HCVS and it customers through a period of unprecedented market change. Her team is accountable for delivering products and propositions which directly support an organisations changing needs around its future fleet mobility strategy; whether that be flexibility of financing, better use of technology and data, or as a means to accelerate the transition into electrification. As a qualified accountant with over 15 years’ experience within the fleet industry, Suzanne has held a number of senior roles across Finance, Consultancy and Sales.Recent career highlights include being part of a team who: have won and retained the largest fully outsourced fleet in the UK, were one of the first to market in delivering a new and fully HMRC compliant funding alternative to company cars, have implemented data driven solutions to significantly increase fleet utilisation measures, and are currently part of the UK’s largest electrification trial.”

Nicole Thompson, Director of Social Innovation & Head of Co-Creation Partnerships, Hitachi Vantara
Nicole has over 15 years of experience in the IT services and technology industry, working for large corporate and start-up businesses, helping both private and public sector clients. Over the past two years, Nicole has been leading the Optimise Prime consortium, driving cross-industry collaboration with leading technology, transport and energy organisations to overcome the challenges faced by commercial businesses and electricity network operators in the electrification of vehicle fleets, while helping the UK plan and prepare for the mass adoption to electric vehicles. In her current role as Hitachi Vantara’s Director of Social Innovation, Nicole is responsible for leading the development of innovation projects and co-creation partnerships which seek to overcome societal challenges and accelerate the development of Smart City ecosystems. Nicole remains actively involved in the start-up community, advising on business development and commercial strategy. She is also a Founder Member of the London Blockchain Foundation.