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

Related Content

  • August 14, 2018
    Bird establishes board to help increase safety for e-scooter riders
    US electric mobility company Bird has formed a global safety advisory board to implement campaigns and products to improve the safety for riders using electric scooters. The board will also seek to improve the safety of pedestrians and cyclists who share space with riders using low-speed e-scooters. Additionally, Bird intends to carry on working with cities through its Save Our Sidewalks pledge to boost rider safety and improve the quality of bikes lanes. The scope of the work includes repainting an
    Read More
  • November 2, 2018
    Waymo gets California green light for public driverless tests
    Waymo has been granted a licence to test fully-driverless cars on public roads in California. It is the first company to be given the green light for such trials in the state – and it means there will be no test driver sitting in the driver’s seat. The permit includes day and night testing on city streets, rural roads and highways with speed limits of up to 65mph. Waymo insists: “Our vehicles can safely handle fog and light rain, and testing in those conditions is included in our permit. We will gradual
    Read More
  • January 30, 2019
    Boeing autonomous air vehicle completes first flight in Virginia
    Boeing has completed a test flight of its autonomous passenger air vehicle (PAV) prototype in the US. The electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft was developed through a collaboration between Boeing subsidiary companies Boeing NeXt and Aurora Flight Services. Boeing NeXt works with regulatory agencies and industry partners to help introduce new mobility modes and ensure autonomous and piloted air vehicles safely coexist. Steve Nordlund, vice president and general manager of Boeing NeXt, sa
    Read More
  • August 10, 2016
    Test
    %$Linker: 2 Internal <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 4 9782 0 oLinkInternal <span class="oLinkInternal"><span class="oLinkInternal">RSS</span></span> Events (Diary)
    Read More

Highlighted Content