Opendatasoft Partners with Waze

Boston, June 28, 2017 — Opendatasoft, a global software platform that specializes in making data open, transparent, and actionable, is excited to announce a new data sharing partnership with Waze, the free, real-time crowdsourced traffic and navigation app. This partnership will make it easier for cities and other local governments to launch smart transportation initiatives.

Local governments already using the Opendatasoft platform can now quickly and seamlessly collect, harmonize and share data through the Waze Connected Citizens Program, a free, two-way data share of publicly available traffic information. The European Metropolis of Lille will be the first local government to take advantage of this unprecedented data sharing initiative for the benefit of its 1.2 million inhabitants via the Opendatasoft platform.

The Waze Connected Citizens Program gives local governments a new look at real-time road activity. The program provides the opportunity to harness real-time driver insights to improve congestion and make better informed urban planning decisions. Established as a two-way data share, Waze partners with over 250 local governments around the world to provide real-time, anonymous, Waze-generated incident and traffic congestion information directly from the source: drivers themselves. In exchange, local governments provide real-time government-reported construction, crash and road closure data to Waze via the Opendatasoft platform. Together, these data sets will offer one of the most succinct, thorough overviews of current road conditions today.

The Opendatasoft platform provides a one-stop hub to facilitate the two-way data share and for the first time, opens these resources to citizens to create civic insights. Combining Waze traffic data with existing open data in transportation services such as bike sharing, buses, parking, and subway on the Opendatasoft platform, local governments will have an unprecedented view of how their transportation systems interact. This two-way data exchange between Opendatasoft and Waze provides a powerful tool to help improve data accuracy and generate insights on how citizens navigate their roadways, where problems arise, and how to fix them. This partnership allows for greater government transparency and collaboration among citizens to reduce congestion and help people better navigate their cities.

“We are delighted to partner with Waze and to offer our open data clients access to their real-time traffic data directly on our platform. This service will help our local government clients improve the reliability of their traffic information without the need for a huge investment in traffic sensing equipment,” said Jean-Marc Lazard, CEO at Opendatasoft. “The Opendatasoft platform will now include cities’ existing open data in transportation services such as bike sharing, buses, parking, and subway with Waze driver-generated traffic data, offering cities a powerful set of tools to understand how citizens move around their city and to identify transportation innovations like never before.”

The Waze data evolves with every driver and data point it receives, promoting safer roads and sharing more knowledge with Wazers about potential delays to their commutes. The Connected Citizens Program yields even more data directly from local transportation agencies, giving local citizens a greater ability to circumvent road closures and traffic jams within the app.

“Through the Connected Citizens Program, we empower our partners to harness real-time driver insights to make better informed planning decisions, and ultimately reduce congestion,” said Adam Fried, head of Global Partnerships at Waze. “Working with Opendatasoft allows us to reach even more local governments around the world and enables our current partners to use the tools they’re already using to launch smart transportation initiatives through Waze.”

Opendatasoft creates data portals for cities, local governments and companies of all sizes. Its second-generation open data platform is fast to ramp-up and intuitive to use, and transforms data into civic services without requiring technical expertise.

Headquartered in Boston, MA, and Paris, France, Opendatasoft already powers open data portals for many municipalities and agencies worldwide – including the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the City of Paris, the Ministry of Health in Portugal and the Swiss National Railways. For more information, visit opendatasoft.com or follow company news on Twitter via @Opendatasoft

Waze is the social navigation pioneer, leveraging mobile technology and a passionate global community to redefine expectations of today’s maps. Waze is home to the world’s largest network of drivers who work together daily to outsmart traffic and save time and money. The app consistently recommends the fastest routes based on real-time driving and data from millions of users. From traffic reroutes to low gas price alerts and relevant offers from favorite brands, Waze is one of the most comprehensive driving companions in the marketplace. For more information about Connected Citizens, visit http://waze.com/ccp. To download the free Waze app for iOS or Android, visit http://www.waze.com/get.