The promising new concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) could be the answer to many of the mobility challenges that we are facing today. It requires a solution where travelers use a single mobile app that allows them to seamlessly complete their journey using several different mobility operators. To successfully build and implement such advanced solutions, Sopra Steria partners with other technology experts, such as Axway, Kisio, and Stoomlink.
By introducing Open Maas, Sopra Steria aims to expand the concept of MaaS even further, to the extent that it also includes the services of less traditional mobility operators, such as car- and bike-sharing companies. From a technological point of view, even more so than with the original MaaS concept, the key to effectively making this extended MaaS concept a success lies in open data sharing and deep integration. To achieve this, it’s best to call on an independent, experienced integration partner who can draw on extensive expertise: a role that we at Sopra Steria are ready to fulfill for our customers.
To deliver a full-blown Open Maas solution, however, it is important that we are also able to engage the specialised services of other technology partners. The following three partners form an important and integral part of our Open MaaS ecosystem.
Axway: integration is key
Without the ability to integrate different types of transport and the diverse information technologies behind them, any MaaS project’s chances to success decrease significantly. That is why companies like Axway have such a critical part to play in MaaS initiatives. They have the necessary knowledge, tools, and skills to combine and connect all the different elements that make up a working MaaS ecosystem.
For two decades, Axway has acted as a pioneering leader in the field of enterprise integration. Starting out as a division and subsequently becoming a subsidiary of Sopra Steria, the ambitious software company went its own way in 2011. Since then, it has evolved into one of the largest independent integration vendors. Today, the company is best known for its flagship integration solution AMPLIFY, an open API management platform. But API management software is just one component of such a platform, though a highly important one in the context of MaaS.
Kisio: unlocking the power of data
The Keolis Group, a world leader in public transport operations, created Kisio in 2015 to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing public transport sector. Kisio designs and builds increasingly flexible and customised mobility solutions for public transport authorities and other mobility stakeholders. The software solutions it's Digital division develops are specifically aimed at simplifying and optimising the mobility experience for travelers. These user-centric solutions range from websites and mobile apps to an open-source API and SDK platform for public transport data: Navitia. Kisio Digital also enhances transport offers by adapting them to each traveler’s individual profile as well as the real-time context (weather, disturbances, congestion, etc.).
The ability to offer high-quality, up-to-date, and preferably real-time travel information is essential to the success of any MaaS project. This requires the capacity to retrieve massive volumes of mobility data from a wide range of different data sources in as many different data formats, managing the data sets every day for the best quality of results. Kisio Digital is particularly adept at creating and managing multimodal travel information systems. Based on these systems, transport service providers can offer new and innovative travel information services to their customers, from short-term traffic forecasts to smart route planners, and from online carpooling platforms to bike-sharing mobile apps.
Stoomlink: bringing MaaS to the masses
For MaaS to really succeed and take off as a new mobility model, a modal shift in mobility is required, taking travellers out of their cars and into different modes of public and shared transport, such as public buses and trams and shared (e-)bikes and (e-)scooters. Stoomlink, a Belgian start-up specialising in building digital products for greener mobility, has made it its mission to do just that: provide travellers with all the information they need to have a smoother intermodal journey so that they can step away from their cars with ease and confidence.
Stoomlink is convinced that the right information at the right time is key to making the required modal shift happen. Using its expertise in data intelligence and interface design, Stoomlink is developing a range of digital tools that allow potential users of alternatives to the car to travel more fluidly, conveniently, and sustainably. It achieves this by offering those users aggregated intermodal travel information along every step of their journey, preferably in real-time. This implies the use of not only a mobile app but a wide range of tools and channels of communication: from traditional and social media to smart screens and interactive kiosks in public places, such as train stations.
Sopra Steria: governing the technology in a complex ecosystem
In the end, like most other ambitiously challenging IT projects, the success of an Open MaaS implementation is driven by governance more than technology. That is why, at Sopra Steria, we pay particular attention to this important aspect of the implementation. Not only do we take great care to select the right partners for each project, but we also take the governance for each project firmly in hand, making sure our technology fits your strategy.
To find out more about our technology partners, their role in our Open MaaS ecosystem, and various other aspects of Open MaaS, please read our white paper on Open MaaS: ‘The future of mobility is smarter, more sustainable, inclusive and open.’ You can download it here.