The Connected Places Catapult has announced the names of three organizations that have secured further funding to leverage AI-powered technology and develop their business cases.
The selected SMEs are participating in the “Smart Transport Systems – AI in Transport” competition, presented by Catapult and funded by the Department for Transport.
The competition aims to leverage the potential of AI to digitize and better integrate transportation systems. Representatives from each of the three companies took to the stage at the Connected Places Summit in London to present their innovations to attendees.
The selected companies and their innovations are:
seasonal words It is building School-Run Optimiser, an AI-powered mobility platform that helps schools and local governments optimize school-run trips, encourage walking and cycling, and enable safer shared travel.
Monirail The company has developed a system that enables predictive maintenance of tracks by collecting data, using trains in service, and applying AI to predict track deterioration.
truck base It uses Bayesian statistical AI models to assess the expected condition of rail assets using operational and asset data, allowing new failures to be identified before they impact rail services.
Each company will now receive £13,000 in additional funding to develop their business case, as well as support from Catapult to identify and engage with potential customers.
The “Smarter Transport Systems – AI in Transport” competition received 83 entries and 23 organizations were shortlisted. Each will receive an initial £1000 to develop a use case proposal.
Proposals developed by the finalists included systems focused on predictive maintenance, infrastructure intelligence, climate risk modeling, and operational optimization. It also included solutions aimed at improving the safety, reliability, efficiency, accessibility and inclusiveness of the entire UK transport system.
Earlier this month, three selected companies took part in Pitch Day, where they pitched as part of a group of eight companies and presented their innovations to a panel of four judges. They were Lillian Greenwood MP, Minister for Transport; Annette Pass, Deputy Chief Scientific Advisor, Department of Transport; Justin Anderson, Managing Director of Data and Digital at Connected Places Catapult. and Vaibhav Puri OBE, Director of Sector Strategy and Transformation, Railway Safety Standards Board.
Erika Lewis, CEO of Connected Places Catapult, said: “AI is one of the biggest economic opportunities of this decade. The data and AI economy will open up new transport markets, improve productivity and create high-value jobs across the UK.”
“Smarter, data-driven systems reduce costs, improve performance and accelerate growth across the economy. At Connected Places Catapult, we are committed to helping UK businesses harness the full potential of AI to create and scale solutions that deliver real economic impact.”
