Word from Richard

Welcome to another Weekly Wrap from Wejo.

This week has been another busy week of media appearances, both digital and podcasted, but as is customary I’m going to start off with our latest video featuring our DataForGood™ products and services.

The focus of the video is how connected vehicle data (CVD) can improve safety during essential roadworks for workers and drivers, a subject that isn’t discussed as often as it should be given the high number of casualties connected to roadworks each year. Using CVD to understand how drivers are behaving, not only through roadworks but also in the areas before the roadworks, can help departments of transportation implement better roadwork planning, thus reducing the number of casualties. In addition, the data can be used to show how effective the roadworks have proven by assessing traffic performance before and after the works.

The subject of using CVD to improve safety also features in an article published this week on ForConstructionPros.com. In the article, the successful application of Wejo’s connected vehicle data is discussed by both Purdue University and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). Using the data to observe incidents in the area of roadworks, INDOT were able to use hard braking data to establish that accidents were happening in the area before the roadwork signage was displayed, and that by making road users aware of the works sooner they could reduce accidents by half. Pam Fisher of INDOT also explained how CVD can alert authorities to potholes in the road long before they would normally know, by observing regular swerving behaviours from drivers in the same locations. To read the article, click the link here.

This week I was delighted to have the opportunity to share our Wejo message of creating our Data For GoodTM products and services on the influential Benzinga podcast, as well as discuss the key factors that we believe make Wejo perfectly placed to capitalise on the untapped potential of CVD. In particular, I wanted to reinforce the strength of our partnerships with companies like Microsoft, Palantir and General Motors and show why their faith in us is built on the ability of our products and the vast depth of our data set. This market is only going to get bigger with more and more connected vehicles coming online every year and we expect to have 30 million vehicles on our books by the end of 2022.  

Finally, our partnership with Palantir has been discussed in numerous locations now, including on CNBC’s Closing Bell a couple of weeks ago. We’re incredibly proud of the relationship we have built and the work we are already doing together with the Palantir Foundry platform and our data. Next week we are hosting a two-day hackathon with our colleagues there to try and discover new and better ways of maximizing the potential in our combined products, and I’m really looking forward to it.  

Thank you for joining us again for another Wrap. Until next time, have a great weekend.

Richard