Miovision Partners With Ecopia Technology and Brisk Synergies to Create Real-Time Traffic Visualizations of Cities

KITCHENER, ON--(Marketwired - Oct 13, 2015) - Miovision, a global leader in traffic systems technology, today announced a new partnership with Ecopia Technologies and Brisk Synergies that will pioneer real-time visualizations of cities and transportation networks.

Today, cities have very little data on the performance of their transportation infrastructure, which makes it difficult to base sound investment decisions on it. When cities start new projects, they often map and model the traffic for that particular area, but after the project is completed, the data model is thrown out or becomes obsolete. Even if the city keeps the map and model, the data on which they were based quickly becomes outdated.

"Urban planners and transportation leaders need living, breathing visualizations of their cities to be able to plan for the future and adjust for short-term problems," said Kurtis McBride, CEO and co-founder of Miovision. "This new partnership combines Miovision's devices, Ecopia's urban visualization technology and Brisk's data analytics into a solution for any city that wants to have a real-time image of itself."

Transportation Infrastructure Becoming the Backbone for Smart Cities

Gartner predicts the global transportation IT market will reach $151 billion by 2018¹, in part because of projects like this one, which will empower transportation professionals to improve the driving experience for everyone, through data and infrastructure. Instead of continuing to tear up roads and build big capital projects, transportation officials are increasingly looking for better data, monitoring and management of the infrastructure they already have. They are turning to modern, peripheral sensors and cameras and satellites to collect that data. That's where companies like Miovision, Brisk and Ecopia come in.

Here's how the solution will work:

Miovision's Spectrum devices plug into traffic cabinets at intersections to connect intersections to the cloud. The Spectrum devices use wifi pinging between different locations to create unique anonymous identifiers for different vehicles, which Miovision feeds into Brisk's analytics engine to determine the real-time flow of traffic. Then Ecopia generates highly detailed maps from satellite imagery to aid in the simulation of those traffic flow visualizations.

"This is truly a case where the sum is greater than the individual parts," said Charles Chung, CEO of Brisk Synergies. "When we started to see the big picture of what we could accomplish together, it made sense to jump in and make it reality. The fact that all three of us are based in the same area and went through the Accelerator Centre makes it that much sweeter."

The three companies are actively working on multiple pilot projects in North American cities, where leaders are embracing technology to improve transportation for residents and modernize the entire city.

"It's one thing to talk about how our different technologies could work together in theory," said Yuanming Shu, CEO and co-founder of Ecopia. "It's quite another to create it for a real city, knowing that what we build will provide a useful tool for transportation planners and ultimately improve the lives of residents."

All three companies are based in the Waterloo Region of Ontario, Canada, and each has been a member of the prestigious Accelerator Centre at the University of Waterloo Research & Technology Park. Miovision was one of the first graduates of the program and is excited to team up with more recent participants Brisk and Ecopia.

"Miovision always looks for innovative partners to complement our technology, and we're especially proud to collaborate with other UW alums and teams who have gone through the Accelerator Centre," McBride said. "This partnership helps us promote our vision to use intelligent transportation systems as a platform for new services that make life better."

The partnership speaks to the strength of the ecosystem in the Waterloo Region.

"The best talent in the world is here taking on some of the most complex challenges and developing unique, creative solutions," said Paul Salvini, CEO of the Accelerator Centre. "It's a tremendous testament to what the Accelerator Centre seeks to do: develop strong companies that are committed to solving the toughest problems. I'm very proud of what these three companies have achieved so far, and I look forward seeing them flourish here in Waterloo."

¹ "Forecast: Enterprise IT Spending for the Transportation Market, Worldwide, 2012-2018, 1Q14 Update," Gartner, Venecia K. Liu & Rika Narisawa, 10 April 2014

About Miovision Technologies

Miovision is a technology company that empowers transportation professionals, through data and infrastructure, to improve the transportation experience. With over 500 customers in 50 countries across the world, Miovision provides meaningful solutions to real challenges facing today's traffic systems. For additional information about Miovision, visit www.miovision.com.