Skip to main content

Vodafone and IBM to provide new tech to National Express

Tech giants Vodafone and IBM have signed an eight-year deal to equip National Express coaches with cloud and digital services to improve safety. Vodafone Business and IBM joined forces in January to offer customers access to technologies for integrating multiple clouds. Debbie O’Shea, group chief information officer for National Express, says: “This partnership enables us to move to a cloud environment giving us a future-proofed platform with increased flexibility that will better support our business.”
September 4, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Tech giants 813 Vodafone and 62 IBM have signed an eight-year deal to equip 1002 National Express coaches with cloud and digital services to improve safety.

Vodafone Business and IBM joined forces in January to offer customers access to technologies for integrating multiple clouds.

Debbie O’Shea, group chief information officer for National Express, says: “This partnership enables us to move to a cloud environment giving us a future-proofed platform with increased flexibility that will better support our business.”

The venture will modernise National Express’ IT estate by moving to IBM Cloud and implementing a hybrid cloud strategy, allowing the company to manage multiple clouds in different locations. Additional security and risk management will be added to protect the transport operator’s technology infrastructure.

Vodafone says this activity will enable National Express to develop flexible payment options and always-connected vehicles.

Looking ahead, the venture will give the bus firm access to other cloud services and technologies such as 5G, Internet of Things, edge computing and analytics.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • 5GAA discusses tech at ITS World Congress
    October 20, 2021
    Connected bike demo identified VRU using C-V2X
  • Motown morphs into Mobility City
    August 7, 2018
    Detroit was once a byword for urban decay – but ITS America recently held its annual meeting there. This gave David Arminas a chance to assess how fast Motor City is moving down the road to recovery. Motor City, as Detroit is still called, was on its financial knees only five short years ago. The future looked bleak as the city and greater urban area bled jobs and population. It was on 18 July 2013 that Motown, as Detroit is also known, filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, the
  • Uber bolsters app features to boost micromobility
    October 1, 2019
    Uber is combining its ride-hailing and food delivery apps, while polishing its green credentials and launching a range of new features and partnerships. There is a particular focus on micromobility: bikes and scooters will be displayed on the map inside the ride-hailing giant’s app in 28 cities to make it easier for users to view their options. The company is also expanding its in-app Transit option to include San Francisco, Mexico City and Paris. New Uber Jump bikes and scooters will come with batteries
  • New York pioneers online mobile real-time bus tracking
    May 22, 2012
    An unusual technology collaboration. David Crawford investigates Early in January 2012, the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) rolled out the first borough-wide implementation of its pioneering Bus Time online mobile real-time tracking service. The system allow commuters to track each bus on every route in real-time on the internet, via smartphones and by text messaging to a mobile phone. The MTA chose Staten Island for its first live launch due to it being the only one of the five Ne