27
de Febrer
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2016
Act.
28
de Febrer
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2016
From Madrid but a Barça supporter and fan of Stoichkov, Carlos Gómez (@cargomor) may be a director constantly on the move - "I live in Madrid but recently I have spent a lot of time in airports," he says – but his feet are firmly on the ground. It is clear that the head of business development for Waze in Europe knows the terrain well, thanks to wisdom he picked up during his time in Silicon Valley, where he made friends among the entrepreneurs there, such as Xavier Verdaguer. Along with these people, he has learnt the importance of knowing the personal stories behind the profile of entrepreneurs, a reason why he set up Nexo.club, a web platform that interviews different entrepreneurs.
"It all seems like science fiction. Explaining it from the human perspective brings the story closer to people and in cases such as Chartboost, with Maria Alegre or Pepe Agell, we see that they are normal people who have done everything gradually," he points out. This simplicity that he claims is to be found behind technologists also applies to explaining the new strategies of Waze, the mobile app of collaborative maps to improve traffic bought by Google in 2013 and now used by 50 million users.
The slogan of the MWC was Mobile is everything, but right now there are differences in how users employ the Internet. What level of technology are we at now?
It depends on the market. In emerging countries there is still a lot to do and there are large projects under way to improve Internet accessibility. The work done on mobile penetration has been amazing and there are now emerging countries with better mobile coverage than in developed countries. We still have another billion users to reach in Asia and Africa, but in general things have been done really well. Nevertheless, I would switch the MWC slogan around: instead of Mobile is everything I would say Everything is mobile, because for us it means more. In the end, we are all on the move and the idea is that wherever you are, wherever you are going, you want coverage and information that is relevant to you. This personalisation of the mobile experience is at the core of what we do and it is something we believe in. The concept of mobile goes way beyond that of mobile telephony. Mobile is what accompanies you, whether it is a car, a telephone, a watch or whatever it might be in the future. The technology cannot be stopped or come slowed because you are on the move, it goes with you and personalises your experience.
Waze was born in Israel and has become a well-known firm. In your experience, how do you see the Catalan entrepreneurial system?
We are in constant contact with entrepreneurs. We don't do speed dating but we have a constant flow of communication and, specifically, Catalonia is doing a really great job. I come from San Francisco, and in terms of how the ecosystem of Silicon Valley works, I see that here there is now a maturity that was lacking before. There is still a lot to do but the conversation is now more serious, more mature, more advanced. Entrepreneurs, large companies and the authorities have got their acts together, but it has to go hand-in-hand with entrepreneurship and venture capital, and now there are examples of super-strong Catalan companies that have done things really well and who are starting to open up to the world, to develop a global role and not be mere copycats. They have also had a lot of support, especially in Catalonia, where innovation has been handled very well by the authorities and I think that they are miles ahead of Spain and even the European level, because there is a very clear vision about where to go and how to provide start-ups with the necessary support. The result can be seen in all the start-ups that have begun to appear.
Waze describes itself as a free traffic and navigation app based on the largest community in the world. What has changed since it came under the Google umbrella?
There are 50 million people who use the app and what is interesting is that we channel all the information through the app. It is a collaborative community that allows us to show or provide navigation technology, information about the best and fastest routes in real time, how to avoid jams. It all works thanks to how this community is managed, which is the core of Waze's project and what makes us different. We have eyes everywhere and at very little cost we can have more - and better - information than anyone else.
You were at the MWC to announce the Waze Connected Citizens Program, which incorporates information provided by the traffic service to your system, with the cooperation of the Ajuntament de Barcelona and the Generalitat. How do you evaluate the cooperation with the public authorities?
Governments, transport and traffic departments, road management, the traffic light system, road signs are all part of the equation that allows us to innovate with all the data we have to experiment with. At the same time, it allows us to include all the information to use the app in real time. For example, before this MWC, we already knew that Barcelona would tell us: "In a month's time, this square and this avenue will be closed," and we can send all of this information to you before it takes place. For example, in Estonia - a partner we have recently brought on board - has a system of sensors that detects ice levels on many streets in real time. We have the data feedback and we add it to the map. That allows us to raise the quantity and quality of the information to a new level. And we want to continue innovating, as now that the authorities know that they have a platform with a lot of traffic and audience, they are interested in doing more things together. The work of we Smart City technology companies is to educate cities about what is easy and possible to do.
How, like Barcelona, do you become part of Waze's 'connected cities' programme?
We have worked with those who have approached who show an interest, and later, with those capable of working with the data and which have the capacity for innovation, because there are many cities without adequate systems. We have cities such as Los Angeles, Ghent, and countries large and small; in truth a lot of different profiles.
The programme and the app in question is an example of how technology affects the lives of users.
It is a great example of how technology can connect the citizen with the authorities and make an impact. It is strange that the citizen driving around the city of Barcelona does not talk to the city council, which manages the streets, or if they do it is through campaigns, posters, but not in a personalised way. This communication does not exist in real time on a daily basis. And then Waze arrives, which is a collaborative platform for everyone and which creates technology that knows how many citizens there are, where the traffic delays are, where the potholes are to be found… The citizens tell the city council where they are satisfied or not. We apply a layer of intelligence that allows the council to introduce innovative measures to solve the city's problems.
At VIA Empresa we have sometimes spoken about how traffic affects business and during working hours, which over these days of the MWC have coincided with a metro and bus strike. Does Waze also consider this?
Yes, in fact we published a study in November, the Drivers Satisfaction Index, which is ground-breaking because it is not only made up of data on driving but includes a very important emotional part in the conversation about driving. It is an analysis of 170 countries in which the quality of infrastructure is measured, such as the streets, the average commuting time, time lost to traffic delays and also the level of satisfaction of the people who complain. The study shows that Spain has pretty good infrastructure quality and that the real-time traffic data is not bad, but people still complain more than normal.
With such a wide vision of driving in different countries around the world, does Waze follow different strategies for different regions?
Yes, because one thing we have detected as a key to growth is knowing how to become hyper-local, even knowing what people in each city or country are worried about. All of our strategies are developed all over the place, but there are countries where some are more relevant than others. In Brazil, for example, there is legislation that says cars with certain registration plates can only be used on certain days, and we have launched an option that allows you to register your plate with Waze so that we can inform you when you can circulate, and this has proved super useful. It is a sign of hyper-local development; such as in the United States, where we have a broadcasters programme in which we provide tools to explain the traffic news on television and radio. There is a great tradition of providing traffic information there; it works well and they put our maps up on the screen, but things are very different in Europe. France or England have a different driving situation than Spain or Italy and the use of the app is more social than here, where it is used more as a feature for finding the cheapest petrol station. That is why the agreement we have signed here is so important, because in Europe the authorities have a very relevant role.
Do you see the possibility of Waze's recommendations appearing on TV traffic news here in Europe?
In fact, we are now working on that. In Europe, there is no tradition of showing traffic updates on news programmes. But we have closed some deals with some television channels and radio stations and the challenge would be to add a travel information section on television. If you have any contacts in TV3, well, you know where to come (he laughs).
"It all seems like science fiction. Explaining it from the human perspective brings the story closer to people and in cases such as Chartboost, with Maria Alegre or Pepe Agell, we see that they are normal people who have done everything gradually," he points out. This simplicity that he claims is to be found behind technologists also applies to explaining the new strategies of Waze, the mobile app of collaborative maps to improve traffic bought by Google in 2013 and now used by 50 million users.
The slogan of the MWC was Mobile is everything, but right now there are differences in how users employ the Internet. What level of technology are we at now?
It depends on the market. In emerging countries there is still a lot to do and there are large projects under way to improve Internet accessibility. The work done on mobile penetration has been amazing and there are now emerging countries with better mobile coverage than in developed countries. We still have another billion users to reach in Asia and Africa, but in general things have been done really well. Nevertheless, I would switch the MWC slogan around: instead of Mobile is everything I would say Everything is mobile, because for us it means more. In the end, we are all on the move and the idea is that wherever you are, wherever you are going, you want coverage and information that is relevant to you. This personalisation of the mobile experience is at the core of what we do and it is something we believe in. The concept of mobile goes way beyond that of mobile telephony. Mobile is what accompanies you, whether it is a car, a telephone, a watch or whatever it might be in the future. The technology cannot be stopped or come slowed because you are on the move, it goes with you and personalises your experience.
Waze was born in Israel and has become a well-known firm. In your experience, how do you see the Catalan entrepreneurial system?
We are in constant contact with entrepreneurs. We don't do speed dating but we have a constant flow of communication and, specifically, Catalonia is doing a really great job. I come from San Francisco, and in terms of how the ecosystem of Silicon Valley works, I see that here there is now a maturity that was lacking before. There is still a lot to do but the conversation is now more serious, more mature, more advanced. Entrepreneurs, large companies and the authorities have got their acts together, but it has to go hand-in-hand with entrepreneurship and venture capital, and now there are examples of super-strong Catalan companies that have done things really well and who are starting to open up to the world, to develop a global role and not be mere copycats. They have also had a lot of support, especially in Catalonia, where innovation has been handled very well by the authorities and I think that they are miles ahead of Spain and even the European level, because there is a very clear vision about where to go and how to provide start-ups with the necessary support. The result can be seen in all the start-ups that have begun to appear.
Waze describes itself as a free traffic and navigation app based on the largest community in the world. What has changed since it came under the Google umbrella?
There are 50 million people who use the app and what is interesting is that we channel all the information through the app. It is a collaborative community that allows us to show or provide navigation technology, information about the best and fastest routes in real time, how to avoid jams. It all works thanks to how this community is managed, which is the core of Waze's project and what makes us different. We have eyes everywhere and at very little cost we can have more - and better - information than anyone else.
You were at the MWC to announce the Waze Connected Citizens Program, which incorporates information provided by the traffic service to your system, with the cooperation of the Ajuntament de Barcelona and the Generalitat. How do you evaluate the cooperation with the public authorities?
Governments, transport and traffic departments, road management, the traffic light system, road signs are all part of the equation that allows us to innovate with all the data we have to experiment with. At the same time, it allows us to include all the information to use the app in real time. For example, before this MWC, we already knew that Barcelona would tell us: "In a month's time, this square and this avenue will be closed," and we can send all of this information to you before it takes place. For example, in Estonia - a partner we have recently brought on board - has a system of sensors that detects ice levels on many streets in real time. We have the data feedback and we add it to the map. That allows us to raise the quantity and quality of the information to a new level. And we want to continue innovating, as now that the authorities know that they have a platform with a lot of traffic and audience, they are interested in doing more things together. The work of we Smart City technology companies is to educate cities about what is easy and possible to do.
How, like Barcelona, do you become part of Waze's 'connected cities' programme?
We have worked with those who have approached who show an interest, and later, with those capable of working with the data and which have the capacity for innovation, because there are many cities without adequate systems. We have cities such as Los Angeles, Ghent, and countries large and small; in truth a lot of different profiles.
The programme and the app in question is an example of how technology affects the lives of users.
It is a great example of how technology can connect the citizen with the authorities and make an impact. It is strange that the citizen driving around the city of Barcelona does not talk to the city council, which manages the streets, or if they do it is through campaigns, posters, but not in a personalised way. This communication does not exist in real time on a daily basis. And then Waze arrives, which is a collaborative platform for everyone and which creates technology that knows how many citizens there are, where the traffic delays are, where the potholes are to be found… The citizens tell the city council where they are satisfied or not. We apply a layer of intelligence that allows the council to introduce innovative measures to solve the city's problems.
At VIA Empresa we have sometimes spoken about how traffic affects business and during working hours, which over these days of the MWC have coincided with a metro and bus strike. Does Waze also consider this?
Yes, in fact we published a study in November, the Drivers Satisfaction Index, which is ground-breaking because it is not only made up of data on driving but includes a very important emotional part in the conversation about driving. It is an analysis of 170 countries in which the quality of infrastructure is measured, such as the streets, the average commuting time, time lost to traffic delays and also the level of satisfaction of the people who complain. The study shows that Spain has pretty good infrastructure quality and that the real-time traffic data is not bad, but people still complain more than normal.
With such a wide vision of driving in different countries around the world, does Waze follow different strategies for different regions?
Yes, because one thing we have detected as a key to growth is knowing how to become hyper-local, even knowing what people in each city or country are worried about. All of our strategies are developed all over the place, but there are countries where some are more relevant than others. In Brazil, for example, there is legislation that says cars with certain registration plates can only be used on certain days, and we have launched an option that allows you to register your plate with Waze so that we can inform you when you can circulate, and this has proved super useful. It is a sign of hyper-local development; such as in the United States, where we have a broadcasters programme in which we provide tools to explain the traffic news on television and radio. There is a great tradition of providing traffic information there; it works well and they put our maps up on the screen, but things are very different in Europe. France or England have a different driving situation than Spain or Italy and the use of the app is more social than here, where it is used more as a feature for finding the cheapest petrol station. That is why the agreement we have signed here is so important, because in Europe the authorities have a very relevant role.
Do you see the possibility of Waze's recommendations appearing on TV traffic news here in Europe?
In fact, we are now working on that. In Europe, there is no tradition of showing traffic updates on news programmes. But we have closed some deals with some television channels and radio stations and the challenge would be to add a travel information section on television. If you have any contacts in TV3, well, you know where to come (he laughs).