USA-based mobile technology research and development company InterDigital Inc. has announced that two more UK local authorities have become new commercial service customers of the oneTRANSPORT data marketplace.
Launched as a commercial service in the UK in February this year, the oneTRANSPORT data marketplace is based on the two-year oneTRANSPORT project, which brought together more than 300 different datasets, coordinated 11 public and private partners’ activities, and was recognized with 11 global awards.
The new local authorities, Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC), will join an actively expanding ecosystem that currently includes Northamptonshire County Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Arup, WorldSensing and Traak Systems.
The oneTRANSPORT data marketplace makes real-time data from a range of closed, siloed systems available through an open, standards-based system with data licenses, enabling the creation of new data-driven digital transport solutions. This type of infrastructure for data can enable smaller cities and entire regions to benefit from smart city concepts and solutions.
Hertfordshire CC cited numerous reasons for adopting the oneTRANSPORT data marketplace that include the service’s ability to:
• Improve Hertfordshire Highways Department’s capability to consolidate and better exploit its own real-time transport data from various source systems and suppliers;
• Enable its Integrated Transport Control Center to access real-time traffic data from local road networks in neighboring counties, providing early warning of abnormal traffic flows into the county from neighboring feeder roads, and giving a broader overall understanding of regional traffic patterns, to support network planning;
• Publish the local authority’s data on an open platform, so others can access the data to support innovation and new services or applications;
• Enable sharing of data with specific organizations for specific purposes, without having to implement direct data-sharing agreements nor perform direct/bespoke system integrations;
• Provide a platform to support future data-driven projects and initiatives to develop intelligent mobility capabilities and services.
Buckinghamshire CC identified similar key benefits, including cost-effective data sharing, visibility of cross-boundary travel and dashboards that enable clear traffic management, among its reasons for adopting the oneTRANSPORT data marketplace. Furthermore, the open data marketplace provides a cost-effective way for local authorities to release their data to support innovation and the development of new intelligent mobility services to assist the traveling public.
“The value of intelligent transport and smart cities will only be unlocked when all transport operators, local authorities, transport agencies and service providers work together. The oneTRANSPORT data marketplace aims to deliver this key objective,” said Jim Nolan, executive vice president of products at InterDigital.
“We’re delighted to add Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire County Councils to this growing ecosystem that will unlock innovation, enable new intelligent mobility services, and ultimately support economic growth across the UK.”
Derek Twigg, client lead at Hertfordshire CC, commented, “We put ourselves at the forefront of road technology developments. The adoption of the oneTRANSPORT data marketplace underscores this commitment. InterDigital has already demonstrated the oneTRANSPORT data marketplace’s effectiveness in managing real-time events with the case study for our home football matches at Watford FC; we hope to use this learning and approach to managing future events and incidents on Hertfordshire’s road network.”
Mark Kemp, director of highway services at Buckinghamshire CC, added, “We have been working with InterDigital for a number of years now to understand what we as a county can do with our previously unreleased data using the oneTRANSPORT platform. We are continuing to support the data marketplace and will explore ways to better utilize our existing datasets, whether this be internally or externally.”
