Manila Bulletin, The Philippines: Cognizant’s Business and Innovation Heads of Manufacturing and Logistics Say People are the Key Aspect of Intelligent Transportation System

Rajaram Radhakrishnan and Prasad Satyavolu of Cognizant

“As part of a broader transition towards a digital economy, governments are pursuing their vision of building smart cities to provide additional momentum to national growth,” write Rajaram Radhakrishnan, Senior Vice President and Global Manufacturing & Logistics Head, Cognizant, and Prasad Satyavolu, Head of Innovation, Manufacturing & Logistics, Cognizant. “As Manila looks to become a smart city in today’s digital era, intelligent roadways and transportation systems make up a key component that cannot be ignored if cities want to optimize productivity and performance for its citizens. For example, it was recently reported in the media that Manila may become “uninhabitable” within four years if the traffic situation worsens at its ongoing rate.” Excerpts:

“With the deluge of vehicle, road and traffic data now available, the challenge is in using this data to create smart solutions that address the real needs of Manila’s residents. This is where the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) comes in with its promise of creating a self-learning and predictive system that improves driver safety, increases work productivity, and even helps the environment by enabling vehicles to reach optimal fuel efficiency.

A key element of ITS design is people. Understanding behaviors and creating systems around citizens is going to be extremely important. Human behaviors and lifestyle needs — both emerging and existing — determine the flow of vehicles. This is integral to the holistic design of ITS.

On their part, predictive analytics, used in ITS, enable efficiencies that help businesses stay a step ahead by forecasting trends so businesses can react better. In Manila, for instance, in the event of a traffic jam, road accident or poor weather conditions, a delivery service can reroute its vehicle to a different location to complete a customer order.

Although ITS is still emerging, other key elements — smartphones, connected vehicles and addressable devices — are proliferating. When connected cars meet intelligent road systems, they increasingly participate in a much larger ecosystem that encompasses ITS and help bring the smart city to life, reducing stress factors inherent in dense urban environments.

The payoff of ITS comes from citizen convenience, sustainability and a better lifestyle enablement. By combining a razor-sharp focus on citizen-centered design and capabilities with connected vehicles and an intelligent physical infrastructure, companies and cities will have a powerful toolset to operate more efficiently.”

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