Edwin Mermans is senior advisor international affairs at the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure from the Province of Noord-Brabant (NL) and process manager of the European ‘New Mobility Services’ (NMS) initiative as part of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP SCC). Furthermore he is working on the Trans-European Transport Network, Mobility as a Service, Smart & Green Mobility and Sustainable Urban Mobility ambitions of the region. Edwin has among others a background as a journalist and is experienced in integrating social media in innovation processes. Edwin Mermans has experience in a wide range of European programmes, projects and networks. He is fascinated by the role of governments in dealing with societal challenges – to create value – by building multi helix learning ecosystems using design-thinking concepts.