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Greetings!
Regrettably emergency situations are happening around the world this summer, from flooding in Germany, to air quality in Singapore, tornado activity in the U.S., and fires elsewhere. All of these emergency situations affect daily traffic and travel and the public need to quickly change their travel plans based on accurate updated information. GEWI's TIC product can be used to keep people informed by processing data about emergency situations by collecting, harmonizing, and distributing useful information to individuals via many methods. In this issue you will read a few ways TIC can be used for a variety of emergency situations. Stability is a word that can be used to describe both the TIC product and GEWI's available product development resources. 2013 marks the 20th year of service for Holger Kuske, GEWI's first employee. Holger is responsible for the data modeling needed when developing new data types for new services such as emergency information. Read more about Holger in the GEWI profile section. In the meantime, customers continue to purchase and use TIC, including a North America service provider who has deployed a TIC3 system since our last newsletter, and two German Police agencies who have upgraded to TIC3. Read about both in this issue. Should you have any questions on anything in this newsletter, or to discuss your requirements or make a request, please contact us at info@gewi.com.
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| TIC CONNECTS: Emergency Vehicles and Navigation
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 TIC3's flexibility allows it to be
used for
a wide range of traffic and travel related projects, including services which could provide benefits during emergency situations.
Emergency Vehicles
GEWI's is evaluating a new project which could have far reaching safety benefits and potential to save lives by alerting drivers of approaching emergency vehicles. Due to improved auto cabin isolation and driver distraction, drivers are often unaware of approaching emergency vehicles.
The project would collect data from the approaching emergency vehicle and deliver an in-vehicle warning, and possible advice, alerting the driver of the location of emergency vehicles in the area. The result could be shorter delays for ambulances and increased safety at intersections and crossings by reducing emergency vehicle collisions.
Emergency Evacuations
TIC3's mapping capabilities could be used to manage many different types of data for emergency evacuations. In a hurricane, for example, staged evacuation zones could be created and managed to deliver alerts and information about how residents in each zone should respond, and which routes are acceptable for travel. Pre-defined routes can be set for various scenarios, and then delivered to travelers using a wide range of distribution methods.
Flooding and Air Quality
Recent flooding in Germany and air quality issues in Singapore are two examples of data that can be managed by the TIC3 system. Sensors can deliver water level information to the TIC system which would then distribute alerts to the appropriate agency or system based on the sensor location and data parameters. Once specific thresholds are reached, predefined alternate routes could be distributed to divert drivers away from the flooding.
Air quality alerts could be delivered in a similar fashion using data from air quality sensors. Specific advice could be distributed to a variety of systems based on the data thresholds and locations of air quality data.
These are just a few of many examples of how TIC's flexibility can provide benefits beyond typical traffic and travel event information. For more information, visit
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| GEWI Exhibited at ITS European Conference in Dublin, Ireland
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GEWI was easily found by attendees at the 9th European Congress and Exhibition held in Dublin in June, 2013. GEWI had exhibits at both the ITS Germany and TISA (Traveller Information Services Association) stands at the congress and welcomed visitors from all over the world who viewed the latest TIC3 product features. The theme of ITS Dublin 2013 was "Real Solutions for Real Needs" which is exactly what TIC has provided as a global solution for its customer traffic and travel information projects since 1997. The primary focus of the Dublin 2013 Congress was on proven deployed solutions and innovative R&D that solve real problems and deliver value for money in today's challenging economic environment. To this end, GEWI demonstrated how TIC is being used to run a wide range of Traffic Information Projects of all scopes and sizes, from small city projects, to connecting 22 countries in 7 different languages. To learn more about how TIC can be used for a wide range of projects, visit www.gewi.com |
| | Two German States Upgrade to TIC3
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 The first state police information center in the German federal state of Thuringia, known as LMS TH and based in Erfurt, Germany, completed a successful upgraded to TIC3, the latest generation of GEWI's popular traffic data processing software, in April 2013.
Soon after in May 2013, a second state police center in Saxony known LMS SN also completed their upgrade to TIC3. Upgrades by other police are expected to follow later in 2013. Saxony police have been long-time users of TIC, starting first with TIC1 in 2000, and then upgrading to TIC2 in 2010. This 13 year history with TIC demonstrates product stability, reliability and continual evolution to meet GEWI customer requirements. TIC3 is trusted by the police to be used on their existing command and control system. Operators manually create traffic events, which are then distributed directly to the public, to local and national customers in Germany, and even internationally in Europe. TIC3 enables the police to use the same digital maps that are used by drivers' in-vehicle navigation devices, thereby improving the accuracy of traffic event locations, especially for navigation systems and services. Government departments and agencies can also extend the use of TIC3 for additional purposes, such as for providing information about road works, and for use by government employees when planning road maintenance. |
| GEWI Customer News: TIC Powers North American Traffic Service
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 The latest generation of GEWI's TIC software "TIC3" has been successfully launched in productive operations throughout North America, covering both the USA and Canada. TIC3 replaced a major traffic information service provider's own-built traffic data entry system, and the new TIC system is now used by the provider's own operators to create and update traffic and travel information. TIC then distributes the resulting data to other systems that ultimately inform millions of motorists across North America of traffic and travel conditions through smart phones, navigation devices, websites, and radio and TV broadcasts. In other customer projects around the globe, customers are using powerful TIC3 product features to collect, harmonize, and quickly identify related data such as weather, cameras, speed and flow, traffic and travel incidents, roadwork and more, and by providing operators with time-saving tools to help create valuable data. TIC is used by a wide range of organizations worldwide including automobile clubs, commercial service providers, car and navigation device manufacturers, road operators, broadcasters, and government agencies including police and DOT's. As a commercial off-the-shelf product (COTS), TIC can be configured for additional purposes such as work zones, connected vehicles, parking information, RDS-TMC and TPEG services, radio data, and data harmonization and exchange. |
| | GEWI Videos: TIC for Traffic and Travel Events
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| Product Videos on GEWI Website
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 GEWI's web site includes videos for several TIC product features. The videos make it easy for website visitors to self-demonstrate the TIC system and to view how specific product features can be used for a variety of public and private sector markets. Available videos include: - Weather - Parking - Work Zone - GPS - Cameras - Traffic & Travel Events - Mobile Traffic Data Entry - Traffic News More videos are being produced to provide an introduction to other TIC product features, so check www.gewi.com occasionally to view the new videos. |
| Download Latest TIC for Traffic Brochure
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  The TIC3 product allows you to perform many transportation related tasks simply by configuration of this commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software.
As a commercial off-the shelf (COTS) solution, TIC can be deployed and expanded much more quickly and cost effectively than custom build-your-own solutions while offering the most advanced features and functionality. |
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GEWI Newsletter
Jul/Aug 2013
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GEWI Profile
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Holger Kuske
GEWI Senior Software Developer
While the average GEWI employee has over 10 years' experience with the company, Holger Kuske is about to double that figure. Holger joined GEWI as the company's first employee in 1993 and in an excellent example of GEWI's resource stability.
Holger is one of GEWI's experts in the structure and handling of TMC location tables and one of the world's leading experts in RDS-TMC encoding and decoding.
He is also involved in modeling new data types such as data which can be used for emergency services described in this issue.
Holger holds a degree in Electrical Engineering with a specialization in CPU technologies. Like all of GEWI's technical and support staff, Holger is fluent in both English and German.
In 2001, Holger was instrumental in the development of the ERIC3000 system for the European Road Information Center which is still in use today exchanging data from over 20 countries.
Holger was also key in establishing the complete traffic management system for the German State Police using TIC, as well as RDS-TMC in the Netherlands, and in establishing a commercial conditional-access TMC Service in Germany (ITDA).
The many valuable contributions Holger has made over the past 20 years have helped make TIC become the "gold standard" for traffic information services worldwide.
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