On Monday 24 September,  GeoVation – hosted “Collaboration and User Innovation in Transport” at the Royal Society of Arts, London.

For the benefit of any of our blog followers that aren’t aware, Ordnance Survey run an Open Innovation programme called GeoVation. GeoVation aims to address specific community needs, which may be satisfied in part, through the use of geography. Since GeoVation was launched in 2009, five separate challenges have been run with nearly £500,000 worth of funding awarded to the respective winners, with GeoVation working alongside other supporters throughout this time to make this possible.

However, “Collaboration and User Innovation in Transport” was a GeoVation event with a different flavour as funding wasn’t up for grabs on this occasion! Nevertheless, over 70 people ranging from government, university, and private sector organisations all gathered to take part in a day, covering a packed agenda that addressed the pressing issues we all face around sustainable transport in Great Britain and the increasing part that technology and Geographic Information can play in driving user innovation in this area today. Presentations were delivered by leading experts; discussions took place amongst all delegates and an exhibition was designed to showcase some of the transport-related user innovations that have previously been enabled in part through GeoVation.

The open and collaborative ethos that typifies GeoVation was very much utilised throughout the day, which was kicked off with an introduction and welcome from Peter ter Haar, Director of Products at Ordnance Survey. This was followed by a number of thought-provoking presentations, videos, posters and discussions compered by Richard Kemp-Harper of the Technology Strategy Board. The Department for Transport considered the policy context for collaboration and user innovation whilst, Forum for the Future presented on a framework for delivering a sustainable transport system. Arup introduced the importance of information in designing “smart” mobility in our cities and Ito World reviewed the open data and transport revolution. The University of the West of England considered peoples’ appetites for creative behaviours whilst Loughborough University, explored the motivations, barriers and enablers to “grassroots” innovation.

Whilst the morning presentations set the context for the day, 100%Open set the scene for the afternoon, sharing thoughts on open data, business models, roles, tools, skills and mindsets. The GeoVation challenge process was introduced as a means of facilitating ventures that address real unmet needs. This fed in nicely to some “Pecha Kucha” presentations that were delivered by previous GeoVation winners: mySociety, Cyclestreets, liftshare, AccessAdvisr and Mission:Explore, as well as this year’s winner Sustaination. The GeoVators inspired the room by illustrating how they, as users of technology, have created innovations to address transport related issues.

The slides from these and the remaining presentations from the day can be accessed here, so please take a look and feel free to follow @GeoVation to stay updated on all GeoVation news.