The Geospatial Commission announces transport innovation competition winners and outlines how to "position the UK in the fast lane"

The Geospatial Commission announces the latest winners of the phase 2 of its £5m Transport Location Data Competition and publishes a report highlighting the location data opportunities in the transport sector.

From:

Cabinet Office, Geospatial Commission, and Lord True CBE

The Geospatial Commission today announces the winners of phase 2 of its £5m Transport Location Data Competition, which was launched in May. Following success in the development of feasibility studies in phase 1, this next phase of the competition will support seven companies to work closely with the public sector to realise their innovative ideas through pilots over the next eight months.

The winners are:

• Maritime ANalyTics Intelligence System (MANTIS), Emu Analytics Ltd: AI and visualisation tool to identify evolving ship patterns of movement to inform the planning of future offshore wind farms.
• Digital Active Travel Augmentation (DATA), Ngenius Ltd: Software using anonymised location data from CCTV cameras to help Local Authorities manage active travel routes.
• Optimising Geofencing, Ricardo UK Ltd: Geofencing optimisation to increase the usage and effectiveness of low emissions zones for air quality improvements.
• National Freight Model, City Science Corporation Ltd: Advanced modelling to improve the understanding of freight movements within the UK.
• ZERO, Dynamon Ltd: An AI tool to help commercial fleets adopt the optimum zero-emission vehicles and charging infrastructure.
• Digital twin of the rail network, Hack Partners Ltd: Using track circuit sensor and location to increase capacity and efficiency of the rail network without compromising safety.
• Automated Rail Geospatial Observation System (ARGOS), Thales Ground Transportation Systems UK Ltd: Utilise train location and sensor data to understand track geometry characteristics and detect underlying track faults.

These projects cover a range of modes of

transport including on our roads, our rail network, in the maritime environment, and active travel such as cycling and walking. They span four challenge areas where geospatial technology has the potential to revolutionise transport in the UK:

• Mobility as a service - to help better integration of transport types.
• Active travel - creating safer ways to enable active travel.
• Supply chains - helping better distribution, storage, and delivery.
• Boosting capacity - increasing efficiency of transport networks.

Positioning the UK in the fast lane

Alongside announcement of our competition winners, the Geospatial Commission has today published its transport findings report: Positioning the UK in the fast lane - Location data opportunities for better UK transport.

The report illustrates the huge potential for location data to support a greener, faster, better transport sector from planning electric vehicle charging points to solving complex last-mile routing challenges.

The report identifies cross-cutting challenges, requiring a system-wide approach and action from a range of stakeholders to truly unlock the potential of location data in the transport ecosystem. The six key transport areas where there is a significant opportunity for increased location data use are:

• Roads
• Road & Rail haulage
• Route optimisation
• Electric Vehicles
• Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
• Drones and Unmanned Aircraft Systems

The report follows research, feasibility studies, and engagement with stakeholders and innovators from industry, academia, and the public sector.

Lord True CBE, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, said:

The transport sector is a vital cog in the UK economy, connecting people with the goods and services they want, the jobs they need, and the places they visit. The better use of location data will be a fundamental enabler to ensuring our transport networks work better, cleaner, and smoother - such as in the planning, delivery, and maintenance of key infrastructure, optimising routing and navigation systems, and enabling multi-modal transport. I look forward to the Geospatial Commission’s work in harnessing the power of location data to bolster our thriving transport sector.

 

Transport Minister Rachel Maclean at the Department for Transport said:

This report from the Geospatial Commission is a perfect example of the significant benefits of data in delivering tangible transport benefits, from planning where to place new electric vehicle charging points, to making last-mile journeys quicker, easier and more efficient. This is the perfect complement to our upcoming Transport Data Strategy which will help overcome the barriers to data sharing and use, as well as improving the discoverability, accessibility and quality of data.

 

Simon Edmonds, Deputy Executive Chair and Chief Business Officer, Innovate UK, said :

Following a fantastic response to the Transport location data competition, we’re very pleased to continue to partner with the Geospatial Commission to support seven innovative projects to work in conjunction with the public sector to solve a wide range of transport challenges through the use of geospatial technology.

 

The Geospatial Commission is an expert committee that sets the UK’s geospatial strategy and promotes the best use of geospatial data. Enabling Innovation is a key mission of the UK Geospatial Strategy.

For further information, please contact us at geospatialcommission@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.