EU cooperation for a 'lead' market in positioning systems
Location-based services (LBS) can be a boon for companies and individuals who simply need to know where they are, from ensuring you do not get lost, to vehicle tracking to breakdown recovery. However, the LBS market is thought to be under-exploited in the EU. 'Europe has invested significantly in LBS research, but today relatively few applications can use geo-location services successfully,' says Boris Grabner from Telekom Austria Aktiengesellschaft, and coordinator of ISHTAR (Industrial Stimuli for the Harmonisation of European Research in the area of LBS), who aims to turn this around. Success would create a 'lead' market for products, which would be good for the EU economy. ISHTAR, funded under the information society technologies (IST) priority of the Sixth Framework Programme for research, has four targets: - to identify knowledge and expertise gaps in European LBS interoperability; - contribute to LBS standardisation; - to plot a pan-European map of European LBS expertise; - plan a five-year research and development (R&D) roadmap for future LBS activities and technologies. Mr Grabner believes that the reason for slow growth in the European LBS market is the lack of European cooperation, as most standardisation issues have in theory been solved, but that theory needs to translate into practise. Cooperation is much more important now, as so many types of device are able to use LBS technologies, so there is scope for the market to grow, and the current global positioning system (GPS) technologies, which have an accuracy of around 10m on the ground will be superseded by the EU's Galileo system, which will have an accuracy of around one metre. This accuracy will give governments the opportunity to monitor traffic with total accuracy, and for example enable systems of seamless tolling - without booths. The ISHTAR survey into LBS activity in Europe gives a snapshot of where the European market is and where it is going. 'It suggests avenues for related European research in IST, the Seventh Framework Programme and the Galileo satellite positioning system,' says Mr Grabner. Today, the LBS sector is concentrated in transport and tourism (15 per cent), tracking/monitoring (14 per cent), information (13 per cent), safety (12 per cent) and fleet management (11 per cent). A total of 75 per cent of respondents expect the sector to expand, largely thanks to new devices for drivers and smart applications. For European companies to leave their mark, then there must be seamless interoperability between suppliers, operators and all other players. This will give companies the opportunity to customise products, services and content for consumers, through all networks, gadgets and other technologies, such as wireless systems. 'Many European LBS projects are already looking at these areas,' says Mr Grabner. 'We recommend more integration, standardisation and cross-fertilisation between them, especially in forthcoming projects.' There also needs to be some work to address consumer fears - many worry that they could be tracked by carrying a mobile phone, for example. 'Why not develop a compliance code, obliging service providers to explain what they are doing with user information?' Expect further analysis of the LBS market, and perhaps a European LBS forum, from the project partners, who are all very active in telecoms research - the Athens Technology Center, and Teletel Telecommunications And Information Technology SA in Greece, Alcatel Space in France, and Tele Atlas and Navteq in Belgium.
Countries
Austria