TomTom, the Dutch company known best for its satellite navigation devices, recently launched a geospatial service for enterprise and government.
The service will provide geocoding, optimal vehicle routing,and mapping information display in applications that are underpinned by Oracle’s Database 11g.
Speaking at OpenWorld 2011 in San Francisco, TomTom senior manager business development, George de Boer, told Computerworld Australia that a logical use for the new service would be to add a new layer of information and use to Oracle’s Business Intelligence application.
Talking about currency of its data, de Boer said that TomTom now relies heavily on anonymous data collected from TomTom devices that provides up-to-the-minute information.
“We have turned to community input,” De Boer said. “You as a user can tell us that a road is closed or that a turn isn’t right. All that information flows back to TomTom and that is part of why we acquired (mapping company) Tele Atlas.
“The ability of TomTom to collect in a very fast manner – that allows for the freshest and most up to date map.”
Using only GPS data collected from TomTom devices, de Boer was able to display detailed maps of the US and Europe. This data was also used to illustrate how the existence of roads could be proven, even though they didn’t appear on government-supplied street maps.
De Boer added that the mapping information they gain from these units equates to four billion measurements per day, while its entire database contains four trillion measurements.
In addition to user input, de Boer said TomTom also made use of high-end algorithms that enable TomTom to decide, based on information such as multiple users remaining static in a given area, that a car accident or other delay had occurred nearby.
IMAGE: Courtesy of Computer World
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