Team of Master Geo-Information Science students wins Geo-IT challenge in Haarlem

Friday 18 November a datachallenge for geo-IT students was organized in the municipality of Haarlem. Three student teams participated. The jury consisted of two persons from the management of Antea and two of the municipality Haarlem. The goal was to come up with a new innovative usage of existing open data. A group of five MGI-students from WUR had the best idea and won the challenge. The price was a drone with HD camera. Their idea was twofold: an app linked to a cycling infrastructure map. Firstly the idea was to create a map to visualize bad parts of the cycling infrastructure (e.g. holes in path, polluted areas, slippery path, congested areas). Secondly the idea was to create an app for the best cycling route taking into account nuisances derived from open data (e.g. traffic jams, pollution, road maintenance). Users of the app can report bad conditions of the infrastructure, which can improve cycling paths quicker, save on road inspection cost and make citizens more participative. The jury liked their teamwork and their innovative idea the most. Now Antea is looking into the business potential of this idea.