The Record - Issue 18: Autumn 2020

111  AUTOMOT I V E movements, we could split the load between trucks to make the best use of their capacity. This would mean that less trucks would be required, removing the extra costs, congestion and emis- sions that they would have created. Another example would be in a city. If mobility service providers and taxis – both of whom will often pre-position vehicles based on forecasted demand or even local driver knowledge in travel nexuses like rail stations and airports – had access to pooled data of total historic and actual real- time demand, and further had this enhanced with updated information on train/plane arrivals, congestion can be avoided, dead time for drivers can be minimised, and arrivals even sequenced to coordinate with passenger need. Ultimately that converges on a vision often described as an ‘intelligent transportation system’ that would seek to optimise sustainability, economic viability and passenger experience concurrently. However, none of this can happen without data being shared. Mobility systems such as these are data-driven, and access to that data needs to be open if they are going to be realised. At Microsoft, we see the equitable sharing of data as being a fundamental societal need, which is why we’ve launched the Open Data Campaign. Rather than allowing data to be concentrated in the hands of a small number of larger com- panies, we want to help close the data divide so more organisations can realise the benefits of the new technologies it is powering. Microsoft is committing to build deep col- laborations with others from across industry, government and civil society. In the automo- tive industry, we are closely working with our partners and business consortia to help set standards to guide data sharing. For example, we have partnered with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in their Transforming Urban Mobility project, helping to define a set of data sharing principles that will enable the move towards intelligent mobility systems (read more at docs.wbcsd.org/2020/01/ WBCSD_Enabling_data_sharing_Emerging_ principles_for_transforming_urban_mobility. pdf) . With a more open, equitable approach to data, we believe that everyone can begin to make better decisions, improve efficiency and tackle some of the world’s most pressing chal- lenges, including sustainability. Sanjay Ravi is general manager of automotive industry at Microsoft “Rather than allowing data to be concentrated in the hands of a small number of larger companies, we want to help close the data divide”