Trends
Quantitative and qualitative analysis
of the innovation ecosystem
Way to travel
How connected cities will ease our
transport needs in the near future
Y
Joe Whitwell
Freelance
technology journalist
Joe Whitwell is a freelance
journalist specialising in
technology and start-up tech
companies across Europe
74 | U K S PA b r e ak t h r o u g h | W I N TER 2 0 17
ou have to be at an important
meeting across town at 11am
– in 45 minutes. The problem
is, you have no idea where
the meeting is, or how to get
there. Twenty, ten or even five years ago,
the next steps would be painful. Calling
people up, asking their advice, drawing
out a map, buying tickets. Now, you can
find your smartphone, pull out the
meeting address from your emails and,
through the miracle of geolocation,
discover the fastest route.
Normally, the fastest route is the
10.22am train, a six-minute walk from
your office. This morning, there has been
an electrical fault at the next station after
yours. No trains are running. Your phone
instructs you to take the 10.19 bus from
the stop outside the station. This bus will
drop you off a five-minute walk from the
client site. The small sign in the bus stop
tells you the bus is three minutes away, so
you nip into a shop and buy a coffee.
Your bus zooms along nicely. Road
sensors in the city know to give buses
more green lights than those to cars.
You ar