Geotab launches data.geotab.com, a new tool to help enable smart cities
Neil Cawse of Geotab
Geotab, a global provider of IoT and connected vehicles, has launched its new tool, data.geotab.com. Aiming to empower organisations and local authorities in the development of smart cities, data.geotab.com grants public access tointelligent datasets which provide insights surrounding smart city planning, improved productivity for businesses and safer communities.
The enriched data available on data.geotab.com comes from over two billion data points that are collected daily from the network of over one million connected vehicles equipped with Geotab telematics devices.
In addition to capturing a vehicle’s GPS and accelerometer data, the telematics technology also obtains information on speed, seat belt usage, fuel consumption, engine diagnostics and more. This data is then aggregated and anonymised before being made available to the public through data.geotab.com – all to ensure the privacy of Geotab’s customers.
The datasets accessible on data.geotab.com can be leveraged to help improve the efficiency of cities, discover key infrastructure challenges and guide the deployment of automated solutions for issues such as congestion, parking and poor road conditions.
The data packages are divided into two areas: Intelligent data and smart cities, which include:
- Hazardous driving areas: This dataset helps identify hazardous areas for driving according to harsh braking and accident level events within a specific area. While communities may already be aware of the locations of significant road collisions, the hazardous driving areas dataset identifies locations that are also prone to near misses, resulting in the ability to prioritise and develop risk mitigation strategies.
- Road impediments: Collecting and combining vehicle movement and GPS data, this dataset aims to indicate locations of abnormalities on driving surfaces such as potholes, speed bumps and general surface issues. Examining a vehicle’s up and down movements (z-axis), this dataset examines z-axis variations and location data to help identify potential road impediments.
- Searching for parking: Searching for parking not only causes frustration, but also contributes to traffic congestion and additional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This dataset helps by identifying areas within a city where drivers experience difficulty in finding parking. Analysis of this data has the potential to assist with optimised route planning, help guide the development of additional parking spaces and signage and help to facilitate plans for new road infrastructure.
Mike Branch
“Earlier this year, we became the first fleet telematics company to achieve one million connected vehicles built on a single, open platform,” says Neil Cawse, CEO, Geotab. “Now, we’re proud to be one of the first resources to provide actionable insights from our global sensor network to help empower businesses and contribute to a rich data ecosystem that will further innovate the world – one community at a time.”
Demonstrating how data.geotab.com’s datasets can be utilised, Geotab was recently engaged by the City of Columbus to integrate its Smart City dataset into their Smart Columbus Operating System (SCOS). Through this partnership, the City of Columbus will utilise data that is compiled through the SCOS and combined with data.geotab.com datasets to help improve city operations in an economical and sustainable manner.
“Communities around the world will be able to leverage the intelligent data from data.geotab.com to better understand patterns in transportation, traffic, road conditions and more which will help prioritise safety measures among their communities,” said Mike Branch, vice president of Data & Analytics, Geotab. “Each dataset, including weather, urban infrastructure or location analytics, will advance driver and road safety measures, ultimately paving the way for safer, more sustainable and advanced smart city development.”
To access and find further information on Geotab’s Intelligence and Smart City Datasets click here.
Comment on this article below or via Twitter @IoTGN