Collecting more data than Tesla:
Use cases for data:
Relationship with Palantir:
Digital Twin With Palantir:
Collecting more data than Tesla:
Richard Barlow, CEO of Wejo, stated within an exclusive interview with TickerSymbolYou that Wejo uses imbedded connectivity to connect data from vehicles. Importantly, Richard was very strong in stating that this data is collected on a trend basis, there are no cookies injected, or any collection of data without the drivers consent. Whilst data collection in the past has been demonised and viewed as unethical, there is evidently use cases for data collection in which can prevail society towards a net-good. For example, through Wejo & their data collection efforts, the company is solving traffic, reducing collisions, and enabling the overall driving experience to become more frictionless in real time.
Wejo is currently a leader within live-location data (with consent from the driver), and collects currently 6% of all data from drivers within New York, as well as data in Japan, Europe & other nations across the globe.
Furthermore, Richard went on to mention how Wejo collects more data than Tesla. This is because, Wejo has smart strategic partnerships with OEMs, fleet providers and a range of organisations across the globe. Currently, Tesla only works with 2M vehicles across the world to collect data for their FSD. However, Wejo collects a whopping 17B data points per day, across 16.9M vehicles, totalling upwards of 13T data points holistically.
To add, Richard proclaimed that Wejo have just finalised an agreement in the US to collect data from radios, satellites, and listening data.
Importantly, Richard was very strong in stating that this data is collected on a trend basis, there are no cookies injected, or any collection of data without the drivers consent. Whilst data collection in the past has been demonised and viewed as unethical, there is evidently use cases for data collection in which can prevail society towards a net-good. For example, through Wejo & their data collection efforts, the company is solving traffic, reducing collisions, and enabling the overall driving experience to become more frictionless in real time.
When asked about Wejo’s nearest competitor, Richard calmly stated that the nearest competitor is Nielsen, whom have just been acquired for $8B. Richard proclaimed that Nielsen still relies on manual surveys to measure ratings of radio stations. This is vastly different from Wejo, who are the first company in the world to collect mass amounts of data from vehicles in real-time.
Use cases for data:
Wejo’s “killer app” is the fact that all of this data is collected within real-time.
The CEO said how, Wejo have just announced that the company is finalising discussions with a major insurance provider to build end-to-end insurance. Through the data collection, Wejo can measure hard-breaking, damage to the vehicle via sensors and live weather-data. In consideration of the array of data, Wejo can overlay this data in conjunction to understand where black-ice is, dangerous driving points and other hazardous spots within the road. Overall, this ties into the notion of data-for-good in which is at the forefront of Wejo’s business model.
Wejo have understood that companies want real time results. Having this low-level-data provides interesting outputs because, this data can be used to pinpoint omissions, better understand traffic and to identify hazards in real-time.
“The use cases are almost infinite” said Richard.
Whilst Wejo also are involved within B2B use cases, namely partnerships with insurance providers, OEMs and media companies to either improve operations, save costs or create overall efficiencies, Wejo also has involvements within the context of B2C operations. Whilst Wejo is a B2B company, they are also building solutions for SaaS and PaaS.
Richard went on to state how, Wejo is building the system behind the scenes to allow drivers to easily consent to data collection.
Richard mentioned how Wejo is a trusted brand, and does not sell data to the highest bidder. Interestingly, even when Wejo does collect data, the data is only collected on a trend basis.
Eventually Wejo will become a consumer brand, said Richard, indicating the true value Wejo currently encapsulates.
It seems logical to state that Wejo is likely to become a major brand within the coming years. This is in consideration of the future paradigms society seems to be heading towards. One major catalyst for Wejo is the overall transition globally towards Industry 4.0. Within the past 10 years, there has been an unprecedented, and previously unpredictable move towards digitalisation. This trend is often referred to as the inception phases of industry 4.0 – or also known as the next industrial revolution. The overall demand for data is likely to become increasingly large within the next few years as organisations recognise the necessity to simulate, test, and to become more efficient and productive through empowerment of data.
Relationship with Palantir:
Wejo and Palantir have had a strong relationship for the past few years. Furthermore, Wejo use the Foundry product internally for InfoSec. The InfoSec product at Palantir aims to make customers safer within the context of data security.
Richard said how, Wejo uses Palantir’s products due to their amazing solutions within the data governance scene, and also to aid management of the data out to third parties.
Through the OS, Wejo have now understood insights that previously were not possible beforehand.
This shows how Palantir is not an individualistic tool like Snowflake or AWS, however instead Palantir is an operating system in which has 400 different tools, features and custom application within.
The idea of a central operating platform is broken down into 4 main areas:
1) Firstly, through Palantir software, one can “drag & drop” certain tools, features, & partnered applications onto the project. This can be done fluently, meaning that the tools, features & applications communicate & work in conjunction with each other. As well as Palantir having innate tools (data visualization, AI, ML, ontology) within their platform, one can also leverage these innate tools, & use them in conjunction with partnered features & tools in order to derive the most value.
2) Orchestrate & bind the IT landscape together. This means that, instead of replacing old data systems & tools within the organisation, through Palantir, organisations can intertwine their own bespoke data systems & tools, in conjunction with more modern tools & applications – & overall use these in communication with each other.
3) Network effects refers to the low code, no code environment of Palantir OS. This enables anyone & everyone in the organisation to use the platform, create new applications & features, regardless of technical ability. Changes can be shared across the organisation, revealing how the product becomes more useful as more people use it.
4) Contextual data. Data is transformed into people, places, & things – which makes the data come to life.
Wejo have recently just announced an AV OS. The AV OS has a simulation environment, in which one can see any vehicle within the US, and can test automated vehicle capabilities within real-time. Beyond that, one can test how another vehicle being added to a set environment will behave within certain parameters.
“This is about doing good for society”, said Richard.
Through the new AV OS, Wejo can enable any OEM to pick a city, and through their simulation tools this can enable testing of an AV solutions in real time.
Furthermore, Richard stated how Wejo have taken coverage of 95% of roads within the US. Through Wejo & the Palantir OS, one can simulate automated vehicle capabilities within a digital city, giving these automated vehicle companies the ability to simulate and change parameters included speed and weather conditions. This overall is in an attempt to transition society towards automated driving.
The AV OS is built for companies who are trying to bring automated vehicles to the market – said the CEO.
Digital Twin With Palantir:
A digital twin is a virtual model designed to accurately reflect a physical object. At the core, a digital twin can enable simulations and testing, whilst also becoming smarter over time.
Wejo uses Edge Based processing at the client-side within partnership with Palantir. In terms of the Meta Twin, Wejo can render complex scenes to better understand how vehicles will react within certain enviroments. A Meta Twin, said Richard, is a 3D model of a city. This can be used to understand how vehicles are driving around, aid visualisation of the city and to gain insights into how vehicles will behave within different environments.
A digital simulation is not just for an AV, but it is more broader in terms of use cases, and can be used to understand what is happening in real time.
Within a recent report on Darntons, innovative investor Cathie Wood stated how the physical structures of the world, such as, fossil fuels and automobiles are finally converging with the digital world now. Previously there has been friction in these areas, specifically within the context of an automobile. This majorly interlinks with the philosophy of Wejo, who at their core are empowering the automotive industry with data to produce efficiencies and to save costs.
