Data innovation: iGeolise turns distance into time
Surrey based company iGeolise develops first 'time to destination' web tool for any mode of transport with support from Innovate UK.
Running late as usual, Charlie Davies was driving to an appointment when he had that Eureka moment.
바카라 사이트淚t suddenly occurred to me that actually 바카라 사이트榯ime바카라 사이트� is very important in defining an individual바카라 사이트檚 local area,바카라 사이트� said Charlie.
바카라 사이트淚f I live or work alongside someone but I drive and he uses only local transport, then our local areas are very different to each other, even if current technology would view us similarly.바카라 사이트�
In 2009 he founded with his friend Peter Lilley. Together they developed a web tool called Travel Time that turns distance into time. It tells people how long it takes to get from A to B, depending on whether you are walking, cycling, driving or going by train.
Charlie바카라 사이트檚 initial idea has now turned into a very lucrative business with sales on track to double in 2014.
Path to success
The company바카라 사이트檚 path to success was helped by a feasibility funding grant of 拢54,300 from Innovate UK, as part of a digital convergence competition.
iGeolise used the money to develop and refine its Travel Time technology even further.
바카라 사이트淲e already had a working system but used the six-month project to add public transport data, focusing on two valuable elements 바카라 사이트� searching by time of day and click to see the fastest route,바카라 사이트� said Charlie.
The project cost 拢72,487 and was completed on 28 February 2013. Since then the company has gone on to enjoy a string of successes.
Shortly after development work started, iGeolise won the UK leg of the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC), beating 76 other entries from the UK and coming only one point behind the two winners, who tied for first place.
바카라 사이트淭he great thing is that we were heavily focused on the commercialisation of the technology, because we had invested our own money as well.
바카라 사이트淭his was something we started commercialising pretty much straight away. For us it was an awesome opportunity and we took full advantage,바카라 사이트� said Charlie.
Wide range of customers
Charlie and Peter initially set out to create a consumer-facing product. But in 2011, they realised that selling to consumer-facing companies such as property websites could be much more productive.
바카라 사이트淸Travel time] tells you what you can do or which amenities you can reach within, say, 40 minutes travel time from a given point. You don바카라 사이트檛 have to search each one,바카라 사이트� said Peter.
바카라 사이트淭hat comes in very useful when you need to find a home within 40 minutes of where you work 바카라 사이트� or vice versa. You just need to know how much time you바카라 사이트檝e got and what mode of transport you need to use 바카라 사이트� our technology does the rest.바카라 사이트�
Travel Time does not just make searches more relevant; the satellite data used to build maps and track vehicles also opens up opportunities to search more widely and with more complexity.
The company is also supporting other developers building GPS-enabled applications.
바카라 사이트淚f you have a mobile application that is using a GPS satellite to locate the user, we can work with that application so that when it locates the user it can provide searches around them.바카라 사이트�
Hostage extraction
New commercial applications for Travel Time arrive on the desk every day. Charlie said:
바카라 사이트淲e had a company approach us the other day who 바카라 사이트榚xtract바카라 사이트� people from hostage situations and they wanted to know how far the kidnappers could have got in, say, half an hour. Or could we identify areas of risk, by time travelled? That one was rather surprising!바카라 사이트�
Charlie is already thinking ahead to the next product and hopes to use the connections it has established through Innovate UK to drive further innovations.
바카라 사이트淗aving that money available 바카라 사이트� along with all the other support we had from Innovate UK 바카라 사이트� has enabled us to grow our business much more quickly than we could have done organically. That was invaluable,바카라 사이트� said Charlie.
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