New research centre for AI in transport
Can AI contribute to better flow of goods, smarter charging and more efficient transport? A new national research centre is going to find out. Uno-X Mobility and REMA Distribution will contribute to the research as industry partners.
The Research Council of Norway has granted support to TA-I, a new research centre for artificial intelligence in transport. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) leads the centre, which consists of 25 partners from business, the public sector and the research sector. Uno-X Mobility Norway and REMA Distribution Norway are industry partners.
The research will help solve challenges related to goods transport, energy use and charging infrastructure that are central to several of the companies in Reitan Retail.
Other partners include the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), SINTEF, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Bane NOR, Posten Bring and Vy Group. International research communities such as MIT and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) are also taking part.
Reitan Retail Innovation connects research and operations
Reitan Retail Innovation is responsible for the project. The department was established in 2025 and is part of our initiative for sustainable innovation. It works closely with research communities and our business areas to develop solutions from research to concept, piloting and commercialisation.
In TA-I, Reitan Retail Innovation ensures that the research starts from real challenges in the operating companies, and that new knowledge can be tested and put to use more quickly. The aim is solutions that can contribute to better decisions, more efficient operations and smarter use of energy and transport resources in the years to come.
"It is a clear recognition of our value chain that the cases from REMA Distribution and Uno-X Mobility are central to the centre. We look forward to using our operational experience to find solutions that can actually be put to use," says Nathalie Niyonzima, head of research and development at Reitan Retail Innovation.
From research to everyday life
As industry partners, Uno-X Mobility and REMA Distribution contribute with specific problems, data and expertise from their operations. They will take part in workshops, pilots and demonstrations together with the researchers. Their cases will show how research can deliver concrete benefits across the value chain.
REMA Distribution delivers goods to stores all over the country every day. With AI, they want to use data to manage operations, and not only for reporting, so that they can plan better.
For Uno-X Mobility, charging is the big task. When more users charge at the same time, the risk of queues and overload increases. The researchers will look at how AI can see charging, route plans and demand in context, and help predict where and when capacity will become a bottleneck.
The centre is organised so that partners can propose new cases along the way. The companies can therefore adjust what they work on as they learn more. The centre is also designed to help partners share experience and learn from each other.
The way forward
The centre will run for four years. The first year is spent on establishing the centre, recruitment, mapping needs and developing the research agenda. After that, solutions will be developed and tested in close collaboration between researchers and partners. The aim is to build a good basis for assessing what can be put to use in operations.