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posted by cmn32480 on Monday January 23 2017, @04:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the just-don't-ask-to-speak-to-my-toaster dept.

Since drivers own their vehicles, the most valuable resource that rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft own might be the data that each ride generates. This information feeds algorithms that pair drivers with riders and also price rides to match supply and demand. The business model built around this data has led to multibillion-dollar valuations for Uber and Lyft. Given the value of this data, Uber was reluctant to make this data publically available until now. Uber has an interest in improving transportation infrastructure where it operates. The data sharing may also assuage city regulators who have demanded data in exchange for permitting Uber to operate.

[...] Reaping the full benefits of the internet of things will require novel agreements between the private sector companies that collect data and public sector agencies that can use it [to] shape policy. However, this data sharing must also include the customer. Publishing aggregate data on a website for everyone to see is one way to ensure that customers know exactly how their data is being used in a public sector context. There are certainly some privacy concerns with making this data public, but as long as steps are taken to remove any identifying information, personal data can serve the public interest. Furthermore, relieving traffic congestion is only the beginning of using sensor data to solve policy issues. While more data cannot solve every problem, greater availability can lead to more precise policy solutions.

Source: The Brookings Institution


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  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Monday January 23 2017, @05:07PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 23 2017, @05:07PM (#457698)

    the private sector companies that collect data

    Note we already have those, the DOT spends a fair amount on these guys to install rubber hoses temporarily across pavement hooked up to some weird counter gadget by the side of the road. So watching them compete will be most entertaining. Of course they will have to continually research a scaling factor, five grandmas collecting prescriptions equates to how many interstate daily commuters, for example.

    The article is very business oriented and misses the technical part that the DOT needs to answer questions like how many pass thru a certain intersection and the historical route data is 1) huge 2) hard to process to figure out answers to DOT style questions. So you go from your problem is only owning a certain number of GI-proof indestructible pneumatic counters and hoses that require manual labor to install and inspect, to having to warehouse terabytes of information and process every single byte to provide traffic counts requiring quite a bit of data center infrastructure. IT can handle the former, probably not the latter.

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