Linux forms foundation to improve mobility

The Linux Foundation has formed the Urban Computing Foundation to allow companies like Google and Uber to collaborate on open source software to improve mobility. Linux, a non-profit organisation, says the software can also be used to improve safety, traffic congestion and energy consumption in connected cities. Jim Zemlin, executive director of Linux, says: “The Urban Computing Foundation is poised to provide the compatibility tools and resources for developers to create software that can map out a
May 15, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

The Linux Foundation has formed the Urban Computing Foundation to allow companies like 1691 Google and 8336 Uber to collaborate on open source software to improve mobility.

Linux, a non-profit organisation, says the software can also be used to improve safety, traffic congestion and energy consumption in connected cities.

Jim Zemlin, executive director of Linux, says: “The Urban Computing Foundation is poised to provide the compatibility tools and resources for developers to create software that can map out and operate technology services in any given urban area, ensuring safety and equitable access to transportation.”

According to Linux, urban computing is emerging as an important field for bridging the divide between engineering, visualisation and traditional transportation system analysis.

The foundation is setting itself up as a neutral forum for this work, including the adaption of geospatial and temporal machine learning techniques and urban environments and simulation methodologies.

The first project hosted at the foundation is %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Kepler.gl false https://kepler.gl/ false false%>, an open source geospatial analysis tool created by Uber for building large-scale data sets. The solution is used by developers, data scientists, visualisation specialists and engineers explore and analyse a variety of scenarios that include transportation patterns and safety trends, Linux adds.

Travis Gorkin, Uber data visualisation lead, says: “Technologies like Kepler.gl have the capacity to advance urban planning by helping policymakers and local governments gain critical insights and better understand data about their cities.”

Other contributors involved in the foundation include 2170 Facebook, 62 IBM, 7643 Here Technologies, Interline Technologies, Senseable City Labs, StreetCred Labs and 3880 University of California San Diego.

The Foundation will use an open governance model being developed by the Technical Advisory Council (TAC), which includes a variety of technical and IP stakeholders in the urban computing space.

TAC contributors include:

•    Drew Dara-Abrams, principal, Interline Technologies
•    Oliver Fink, director Here XYZ, Here Technologies
•    Travis Gorkin, engineering manager of data visualization, Uber
•    Shan He, project leader of Kepler.gl, Uber
•    Randy Meech, CEO, StreetCred Labs
•    Michal Migurski, engineering manager of spatial computing, Facebook
•    Drishtie Patel, product manager of maps, Facebook
•    Paolo Santi, senior researcher, MIT
•    Max Sills, attorney, Google

To contribute to this work, please visit the Urban Computing Foundation %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external website false https://uc.foundation/ false false%>. 

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • EU states support Denmark’s diesel ban proposal
    October 15, 2019
    Ten European Union (EU) countries have backed a proposal from Denmark to ban the sale of diesel and petrol cars by 2040. Danish climate and energy minister Dan Jorgensen told Reuters that the ban will hopefully put pressure on the European Commission to the propose phasing out of fossil fuel-powered vehicles. He also suggested allowing individual countries to implement this measure if the EU could not agree on a union-wide ban. Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and other countries have suggested tha
    Read More
  • RTD joins forces with Uber for trip planning in Denver
    February 6, 2019
    The Regional Transportation District (RTD) in Denver, Colorado, has entered into an agreement which will allow its riders to view transit routes within Uber’s app. RTD says the collaboration will allow commuters to plan their travel with additional first/last mile options. Riders can select the app’s ‘Transit’ option to see available routes, real-time schedules and walking directions to and from stations. Looking ahead, the partnership intends to allow riders to purchase RTD tickets via the app,
    Read More
  • Eastlink launches self-driving survey, Australia
    September 11, 2017
    Toll route operator Eastlink, with support from Australian Road Research Board, has launched the first of an annual Victorian self-driving vehicle survey for Victorian motorists’ attitudes to and perceptions of self-driving vehicles, to be completed 8 October 2017. The first major survey is aimed at motorists, irrespective of whether they use Eastlink and will be repeated annually to track changes into the future
    Read More
  • New webinar series: connected vehicles and the environment
    September 12, 2012
    The United States Department of Transportation (US DOT) has announced a series of webinars for its Applications for the Environment: Real-Time Information Synthesis (AERIS) program. The webinars will review the conclusions of an extensive benefits/cost analysis, three draft concepts of operations devised by the program to describe Transformative Concepts, as well as a summary of the results of an eco-approach field experiment. The webinars are free and open to the public, but interested attendees need to re
    Read More

Highlighted Content