Machine learning drives Grab's Open Traffic initiative

OVER the past few years, the media has focused a lot on how companies the likes of Uber, Grab and Airbnb have exploited the so-called'sharing economy,' highlighting the fact that they don't own assets but are still able to dominate the transportation and accommodation industries respectively. But as these companies hog the headlines insofar as their valuations and growth rates are concerned, unbeknownst to many, they are also highly-tuned, data intensive-driven companies. Being data driven means that they are able to pour resources into helping to solve one of society's most challenging problems – that of traffic congestions in the countries they operate in. Last April, Southeast Asian-based (SEA) Grab launched the OpenTraffic initiative in Malaysia, an effort aimed at providing traffic data from Grab's GPS data streams to address traffic congestion and improve road safety in major Malaysian cities. The initiative was done in collaboration with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Sdn Bhd (MDEC) and the World Bank Group.