Director of Growth at Waze (now Google)
Locate | Pier 27, San Francisco, CA | May 30–31, 2018
By: Joe Gomez
Locate, is a two-day party with all of the coolest people and companies in the mapping space, including Di-Ann Eisnor, Director of Growth at Waze.
We’ve entered an era of living maps, where map data is collected in real time by millions of sensors — it’s like giving every user a pencil to draw the map as they use it. This is changing not just how we collect data, but how we plan cities, engage communities, and understand large-scale patterns in mobility.
The notion of a living map is already here. It’s becoming more about how we direct our insights. How do we use real-time data to improve infrastructure, reduce congestion, engage citizens, and plan better cities… I’m excited about rethinking the society I want to live in based on the potential for AI and live data to fundamentally change how we interpret the world around us. — Di-Ann Eisnor
Having started the US office for Waze in 2009, later acquired by Google in 2013, Di-Ann helped spearhead a key milestone in the evolution of maps. Waze was one of the first real-time feedback loops, where users directly influenced the performance and intelligence of the map. She shared what we can anticipate with living maps in the future, and what she’s most excited about exploring at Locate.
How has the “living map” evolved for Waze, and how is that data being used?
Nine years ago when I met the co-founders of Waze, I was so inspired by the idea you could form a community of people who actually wanted to help everyone as a whole figure out where to go. As we scaled from thousands to millions of users, it was fascinating to see the trends as the data became more saturated; so what happens when you have 10% of drivers in a city versus 20% or 30%. What does that tell us about new roads, incidents and emergencies, and live traffic? It very quickly became about okay, how do we apply this?
I started this program called the Connected Citizens program. It now has more than 600 cities and departments of transportation that can access a stream of that anonymous data. For example, 70% of crashes are reported in Waze before a 911 call, which means cities can optimize dispatching of first-responders. We’re getting reports that this can save 4–7 min, enough time to save a life. We’re seeing cities do things like figure out where to put new roads, or in the case of Rio during the 2016 Summer Olympics, figure out how to accommodate a million new people.
As cities, governments, and businesses rely more on real-time location data, what can we anticipate in the future?
We can anticipate the urgency. If congestion is a problem now, think about how it will compound 5–10 years from now. What I envision is we’ll have systems that allow us to use our roads and public spaces much more dynamically. The quantity of data we have combined with citizen engagement is a completely new opportunity to rethink our infrastructure. Imagine that a street is used for cars during commute hours, and then non-motorized transportation until 4pm, and then after 6pm it’s designated for recreational or collaborative space, whatever the local residents need.
One of the other really cool things that’s happening right now is modeling change using synthetic populations. With anonymized data of real-time and historical patterns, it’s possible to predict behavior of an entire population without collecting information about individuals. You can scale data collection and the resulting insights without infringing on people’s privacy.
How are you thinking about making data more open and transparent so citizens can participate in how its used?
I’d say first, decentralization is really important. We need to leverage all of these new tools to make sure we aren’t creating giant honey pots of data that are vulnerable or inaccessible. As far as transparency, if someone wants to make a change in a city now, then the burden is on them to organize and to get involved in local government; it’s hard to do. Now imagine that every app on your phone allows you to share your input on key issues. How great would it be if cities could instantly aggregate this data and share results so decision-making is a seamless dialogue shared among everyone.
With so much happening in maps and location, what are you most excited about at Locate?
I’m excited about rethinking the society I want to live in based on the potential of AI to fundamentally change how we interpret the world around us. We have a chance to think about these existential technologies going hand-in-hand with ethics, transparency, and civic engagement. We can be conscious stewards of this tech. When you consider the violence, apathy, and inequality that exists today, we have a chance to build something a lot better.
We’ll be announcing more speakers, demos, and code labs at Locate in the weeks to come. Register for early bird tickets now to save your spot. You can also sign up to race autonomous Robocars at the event. More details here.
Speaking @ Locate: Di-Ann Eisnor was originally published in Points of interest on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.