Mobileye and Ordnance Survey partner to collect and share map data

Mobileye, an Intel company, and Ordnance Survey, Great Britain’s national mapping agency, announced an agreement to bring high-precision location data to UK agencies and businesses.

Ordnance Survey's geospatial and technology expertise will be paired with Mobileye's automotive camera-based mapping capabilities to offer a new, accurate and customisable location information service to Ordnance Survey customers across energy, infrastructure and other sectors.

“Using maps to improve operations between businesses and cities will help bring us closer to the realisation of smart cities and safer roads,” said Prof. Amnon Shashua, Mobileye President and CEO.

The deal demonstrates the utility of mapping innovation beyond future autonomous vehicles. It is a prime example of how Mobileye's unique mapping capabilities can extend the value of location data to businesses in new market segments, such as smart cities. The key lies in making such data available to businesses and governments in a way that is anonymised for privacy. Mobileye's unique approach to mapping does just that.

Using the Mobileye technology, vehicles will gather sizable volumes of location data on road networks and roadside infrastructure. The collected data is then cross-referenced with existing geospatial data sets, such as OS MasterMap, to help develop accurate maps of Britain's roads and surrounding areas with amazing detail and precision.

As a result, Ordnance Survey and Mobileye can offer customised solutions derived from the location intelligence, empowering companies in both existing and developing industries to run a smarter, better-connected business.

Utility companies, for example, can leverage the service to maintain the precise location of their assets on the ground, such as manhole covers, lamp posts, telephone poles and more. By enabling a stronger view into overground and underground assets, these companies can more efficiently plan and manage maintenance needs, support or other necessary work.

The agreement announced at CES 2019 follows a successful year of pilot projects in 2018 where Ordnance Survey has worked with data collected by Mobileye and successfully integrated it into the geospatial database for Great Britain. In addition, a number of Ordnance Survey vehicles have been fitted with Mobileye 8 Connect to collect data on the roads of Britain.

The pilots are delivering a new level of roadside data that, through the partnership, will benefit customers across the many sectors including utilities, infrastructure and telecommunications.

The new service will also support 5G, intelligent mobility and additional digital services, enabling a fully connected, digital Britain.

Neil Ackroyd, Ordnance Survey CEO, said: “OS appreciates its role as a trusted advisor in existing and new market opportunities, and will continue to invest and innovate to support our utility customers and in new discovery projects such as CAV, 5G and IoT.”

“One key, and common, learning is that detailed and accurate geospatial data is a must for the success of these projects. We envisage this new rich data to be key to how vehicles, infrastructure, people and more will communicate in the digital age. Our partnership with Mobileye further enhances our commitment to supporting Britain as a world-leading centre for digital and tech excellence,” he added.