Insight Warehouse, a UK-based company specializing in speed limit databases for road networks, has recently joined the TN-ITS community. This membership marks a significant step towards enhancing digital maps and intelligent transport services globally, contributing to safer and more efficient road networks.
Founded in 2011, Insight Warehouse was inspired by a start-up’s need for accurate speed limit data for a mobile app monitoring young drivers. Confronted with a lack of accessible national speed limit data, Insight Warehouse embarked on creating a comprehensive map of UK speed limits. Over the next 12 years, they built a robust customer base, primarily composed of UK businesses that use the data for monitoring driver behaviour and planning utility works. In 2023, their database became accessible to the UK government and public sector organizations via a central procurement agreement managed by the Ordnance Survey, significantly boosting interest in data quality and resulting in thousands of monthly updates.
Driven by customer demand, Insight Warehouse began its international expansion in 2021, covering roads in Ireland, Romania, and Cyprus. Their ambitious goal is to map speed limits worldwide, and they have already started projects in Kenya and Ethiopia, where existing data is scarce.
They collaborate with local authorities and utilize external data sources, including surveys, updating their data quarterly with plans to increase frequency for better accuracy.
“Becoming part of the TN-ITS community allows us to connect with people who want to achieve the highest quality of mapping data, whether they are representing national organizations or map makers supplying this critical data to businesses and the public”, stated Richard Owen, Insight Warehouse director. “Sharing our experiences, challenges, and successes in this collaborative forum will help us reach solutions more quickly and with greater consistency. There are many different technical approaches, as well as sources of data, and we are very much looking forward to conversations about this”.
Insight Warehouse’s vision and role in TN-ITS
Insight Warehouse aims to provide accurate, comprehensive, and accessible speed limit data, enhancing road safety and supporting commercial use. The company is expanding its reach and improving its data tools, with a strong commitment to both local and international projects. Their membership in the TN-ITS community will enable them to connect with other stakeholders dedicated to achieving high-quality mapping data, fostering collaboration and consistency.
“We see our role as somewhere between governments and their desire for greater accuracy and coverage, and map makers who want the most timely information available – which must also be accurate! We can offer ideas on how to scale the production of maps in new countries, what the advantages are of different data-led approaches, and how to encourage collaboration with all users of speed limit maps. Right now, we are interested in learning as much as possible, and if there are areas where we can contribute based on our experiences in over a decade of carrying out this work, we will be delighted to work with others”, declares Owen.
Insight Warehouse’s integration into the TN-ITS community brings substantial advantages by providing comprehensive and accurate speed limit data, which will help us enhance the overall quality of map data. This partnership aligns with TN-ITS’s mission to facilitate the exchange of road data attribute changes, such as speed limits and other regulatory information. Insight Warehouse’s expertise and commitment to high-quality data provision will support TN-ITS’s efforts to implement the ITS Directive and provide real-time traffic information services across the EU, ultimately promoting greater safety and efficiency in mobility.
“TN-ITS membership is again strengthening this multistakeholder ERTICO innovation platform. Speed limits are the number one road attribute of interest in the TN-ITS data exchange between road authorities and map providers. Practice shows that the availability of such speed limit data from the road authorities as demanded by the RTTI Delegated Regulation 2022-67 is still lacking availability, quality and map coverage. Insight Warehouse services target this gap in EU mobility data and will help the quality implementation of ISA”, stresses ir. Frank Daems, Innovation and Deployment Senior Manager at ERTICO and TN-ITS Coordinator.