New-Tech Europe Digital Magazine | Feb 2016

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mobility services may be the order of the day, but Helsinki Region Transport is equally drawn to innovations designed to go in the cabin space,” says Reijo Mäkinen, Director of the Transport Services Department at Helsinki Region Transport. In addition to the Helsinki region, the City of Tampere is also participating in the project, exploiting the results in its own public transport development. The project supports the creation of new services for transport service

associated with implementing and using the development platform and setting some common rules for the operations are scheduled for spring 2016. After that, the project will be expanded by bringing in new players, who will utilise the platform in their development activities. The three-year Living Lab Bus project comprises the projects of Ajeco (secure multichannel communications), Cinia One (cloud services and interfaces),

EEE Innovations (smart transport ICT solutions), Foreca (weather and road weather services), iQ Payments (mobile payment solutions) and Linkker (electric bus), as well as the supporting research projects by VTT, Aalto University, University of Tampere and Tampere University of Technology. The enablers, supporters and utilisers of the project are Helsinki Region Transport, the City of Helsinki, the City of Tampere and Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation.

users and providers, and the business operations of companies are promoted by accelerating the cost-effective introduction of new solutions. The Living Lab Bus acts as a display window for showcasing Finnish expertise, while also increasing the attractiveness of public transport and cooperation between various players, as well as producing new research information on the needs of public transport users and service developers. Identifying utilisation interests and needs of various players Vodafone Germany, in cooperation with Cisco and Chemring Technology Solutions, has completed a trial demonstrating how smartphone users can more easily access the Internet via a Wi-Fi or mobile data connection, thanks to a new intelligent mobile access solution solution. This innovative solution aims to ensure that customers always use the best available access technology. To achieve this, the solution can switch between the mobile and Wi- Fi networks, depending on which provides the best user experience, based on time or location, as well as the load on the mobile or Wi-Fi networks. This also avoids common issues when logging into portals, as well as slow or inactive Wi-Fi connections. This approach will make poor Wi-Fi connection a thing of the past. Selection of the best access technology is based on intelligent algorithms and rules which take into account location, time and current measurements on the customer’s smartphone. Furthermore, it includes historical data, which makes it possible to make a decision based on congestion trends. Customers are also able to set preferences to, for

Intelligent Mobile Access Simplifies Smartphone Use for Vodafone example, connect automatically to his or her preferred Wi- Fi at home or in the office.

The pilot ran in three German cities, leveraging Network Intelligence Software from the Cisco Policy Suite and intelligent device software for Android and iPhone smartphones from Chemring Technology Solutions. The intelligent device is responsible for applying the policy rules, as well as ensuring the connection quality by running performance measurements of potential Wi-Fi and mobile networks in the background. These measurements report back to the network in order to identify trends for the different hotspots. Furthermore, the intelligent device takes care of the login process to Wi-Fi hotspots. This helps Vodafone, a provider of fast, high-performance fixed and mobile networks, push ahead with the integration of its mobile and Wi-Fi infrastructure. Customers would benefit from simpler, trouble-free use of their devices while maintaining the same high, stable connection quality.

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