{"id":397681,"date":"2021-01-19T19:59:18","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T03:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcnews&p=397681"},"modified":"2021-09-02T08:28:42","modified_gmt":"2021-09-02T15:28:42","slug":"in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need","status":"publish","type":"arcnews","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need","title":{"rendered":"In Finland, a Geospatial App Gives Transport Drivers the Information They Need"},"author":6921,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[472981,254782,134062],"tags":[171842,157412,338532,280172,200732],"arcnews_issues":[472041],"class_list":["post-397681","arcnews","type-arcnews","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arcgis-appstudio","category-open-data-2","category-transportation-2","tag-appstudio-for-arcgis","tag-data","tag-finland","tag-geospatial","tag-mobile-app","arcnews_issues-winter-2021","arcnews_sections-your-work"],"acf":{"short_description":"Tietorahti Oy, Finnish transport consulting company, created a mobile app to easily access critical data while on the road.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Transport companies around the world deliver vital goods such as food, clothing, and electronics, making road-based freight transport an important part of the global economy. In Finland, 40 percent of transport companies consist of just one person and one truck, and these individuals work tirelessly to deliver essential goods.\r\n\r\nTo ensure that drivers receive accurate information about their trips, Finnish transport consulting company Tietorahti Oy collects and updates transport industry data on everything from gas stations to the maximum weight allowed on various roadways. Although some of this data was available before, drivers couldn\u2019t access it in one system. What\u2019s more, the data they did have access to wasn\u2019t always accurate. This made it difficult for drivers to get the trip information they needed while on the road.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s why Janne Lausvaara, founder of Esri startup partner Tietorahti Oy, created a mobile app that drivers can use to easily access critical data while on the road. Employing the ready-to-use configurable templates that come with ArcGIS AppStudio, Lausvaara was able to build an app\u2014without doing much coding\u2014that makes drivers\u2019 journeys safer and the transport of vital goods more efficient."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":397651,"image_position":"right","orientation":"vertical","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Gathering Information in One Place<\/h2>\r\nIn Finland, the information available to commercial truck drivers and dispatchers used to be found in several different places, such as enterprise resource planning and time management systems, according to Lausvaara. Several key pieces of information were also unavailable, including height and weight limitations on bridges and roadways. This made it challenging for drivers to get essential information about their trips, either during the planning phase or while en route.\r\n\r\nAs Lausvaara described it, information was \u201call over the internet and in different kinds of solutions.\u201d He didn\u2019t believe that this was serving the local commercial trucking industry very well, so he set out to create one solution with access to all this data.\r\n\r\nFirst, Tietorahti Oy used Google My Maps to introduce a paid solution, released on Google, for accessing transport industry data. This included data from transport companies, as well as open data on everything from truck stops and repair shops to truck height limits and gas stations. Within two years, the app had 1,700 users.\r\n\r\nAccording to these users, however, the data included a lot of errors. The tool also had two specific limitations: a limit of 600 users and a restriction of 10 layers per map. Correcting erroneous data was a lot of work for Lausvaara, too.\r\n\r\n\u201cIf there was wrong data, I had to fix it four times so users could see it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd [the data] was difficult to edit, since it was in multiple places.\u201d\r\n\r\nLausvaara decided to create yet another solution that would not only make information accessible in one place but also have rich data and easier editing capabilities.\r\n

A Solution that Does It All<\/h2>\r\nLausvaara wanted to create a map-based mobile app that was available in public app stores, but he didn\u2019t know where to start. In talking with Ilkka Suojanen, chief technology officer of Esri Finland, Lausvaara found out about AppStudio. Suojanen suggested it because, whereas it allows users to build geoenabled, cross-platform native apps, it requires minimal coding."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":397611,"image_position":"left","orientation":"vertical","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"To begin creating this new solution, Lausvaara applied to join the Esri Startup Program, which helps early-stage startups, like Tietorahti Oy, build mapping and location intelligence<\/a> into their products. After becoming part of the program in January 2020, Lausvaara employed AppStudio and worked with a single developer and a graphic designer to get his app up and running.\r\n\r\n\u201cI was really excited about AppStudio because I only had to use my code guy,\u201d said Lausvaara. \u201cI [could not pay] anyone to make me software, so [coding] was really easy with AppStudio.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe watched video tutorials created by Esri\u2019s AppStudio team to learn how to use the product. Lausvaara said that videos from Esri product engineer Tina Jin, in particular, convinced him that AppStudio was the best option for this. From there, implementation was pretty simple.\r\n\r\n\u201cI have seen a lot of Tina\u2019s videos, and [they] showed how easy it is to make an app. So I thought, if it\u2019s that easy, I have to do it with this [tool],\u201d Lausvaara said. \u201cEverybody needs this solution.\u201d\r\n\r\nTietorahti Oy launched the new, free mobile app, called Tietorahdin kartta (which translates to \u201cthe map of Tietorahti\u201d) in April 2020 using existing data from the previous Google solution. Within the app, there are galleries of ready-to-use maps that have relevant information for couriers, log transport companies, and container transport companies. For example, a courier can see parking places in city centers, while a container transport company can view port information."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":397621,"image_position":"right","orientation":"vertical","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Lausvaara used his own transport industry dataset that comes from 14,000 transport companies and includes over a million data points on things like revenue, equipment, type of transport, and GIS data. This allows Tietorahti Oy to inform transport companies when relevant information is available in the app, such as when loading and unloading locations are added.\r\n\r\nTietorahti Oy advertises its app to drivers with a paper leaflet that says, \u201c[Y]ou have the power to choose what you can see on your map.\u201d\r\n

Drivers Get a Tailored Experience<\/h2>\r\nThe new, free mobile app\u2014which also functions as a navigation system and tailors its results to where a driver is traveling\u2014has more than 5,400 users and has received positive feedback from transport companies. Part of the reason for this is that truck drivers and transport companies can create a customized experience for themselves. For example, drivers can decide to only view gas stations for which they have a card.\r\n\r\n\u201cDrivers can choose what map layers they see, and I was really excited when I found this out,\u201d said Lausvaara. \u201cThe map and device remember [the options] drivers have chosen, and there is one map with all the data.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe app collates data from agencies such as Traffic Management Finland. In addition to displaying information such as the locations of gas stations, parking places, rest stops, and loading areas, the app shows traffic incidents and roadwork information (crowdsourced from drivers), where showers and saunas are, and various types of weight and height limits for roadways around Finland."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":397631,"image_position":"left","orientation":"vertical","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Tietorahdin kartta is widely available to drivers throughout the country, which gives Lausvaara an efficient way to collect more data from users and, in turn, improve the app\u2019s data quality. And, perhaps most significantly, all this more accurate information is available in one place instead of scattered around different solutions.\r\n\r\nLausvaara finds it easy to make edits and correct errors in the data using the app as well. Previously, he said, he would have three or four different maps with the same data, but now he can make one map, duplicate it, and edit the different layers within the map.\r\n\r\n\u201cBefore we used AppStudio, we had a lot of manual processes when updating the data. Also, it had to be updated in several places. Now, we have only one master layer that other layers use filtered,\u201d Lausvaara explained. \u201cIt\u2019s less work\u2026and there is more automation with AppStudio. We are saving time because the data is always in one place and only updated once.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn conjunction with AppStudio, Lausvaara is using ArcGIS Survey123 and ArcGIS Online to crowdsource data and ensure that all the information is kept current. According to Lausvaara, this makes data collection much smoother when compared to the way he previously gathered data from drivers.\r\n

Looking at Sharing in the Future<\/h2>\r\nPleased with the progress of Tietorahdin kartta, Lausvaara wants to eventually create a desktop version of the mobile app that transport company dispatchers can use. He would also like to share this data and his solution with similar organizations around the world.\r\n\r\n\u201cI want to share data and ideas with other countries\u2019 transport-related groups. For example, if someone in Sweden has the same kind of software, we could possibly share data and ideas with each other to help support transport companies,\u201d he said. \u201cThat would be really powerful.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor more information on this project, email Lausvaara at janne.lausvaara@tietorahti.fi<\/a> or visit his website<\/a>."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"\nIn Finland, a Geospatial App Gives Transport Drivers the Information They Need | ArcNews | Winter 2021<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tietorahti Oy, Finnish transport consulting company, created a mobile app to easily access critical data while on the road.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Finland, a geospatial app gives transport drivers the information they need | ArcNews | Winter 2021\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tietorahti Oy, Finnish transport consulting company, created a mobile app to easily access critical data while on the road.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-02T15:28:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2021\/01\/arcnews-banner-infinland-wide.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"In Finland, a geospatial app gives transport drivers the information they need | ArcNews | Winter 2021\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Tietorahti Oy, Finnish transport consulting company, created a mobile app to easily access critical data while on the road.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Esri\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need\",\n\t \"name\": \"In Finland, a Geospatial App Gives Transport Drivers the Information They Need | ArcNews | Winter 2021\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2021-01-20T03:59:18+00:00\",\n\t \"dateModified\": \"2021-09-02T15:28:42+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"Tietorahti Oy, Finnish transport consulting company, created a mobile app to easily access critical data while on the road.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"ArcNews Articles\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 3,\n\t \"name\": \"In Finland, a Geospatial App Gives Transport Drivers the Information They Need\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Esri\",\n\t \"description\": \"Esri Newsroom\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/2ea2e24ff1bf1335829717357eaf3b3a\",\n\t \"name\": \"Lidia Davidson\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69fae831c26e7d10c2c6cdaff1c8c9f2e148d083fe79f851e5ad201f7793fad5?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69fae831c26e7d10c2c6cdaff1c8c9f2e148d083fe79f851e5ad201f7793fad5?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Lidia Davidson\"\n\t },\n\t \"url\": \"\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In Finland, a Geospatial App Gives Transport Drivers the Information They Need | ArcNews | Winter 2021","description":"Tietorahti Oy, Finnish transport consulting company, created a mobile app to easily access critical data while on the road.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In Finland, a geospatial app gives transport drivers the information they need | ArcNews | Winter 2021","og_description":"Tietorahti Oy, Finnish transport consulting company, created a mobile app to easily access critical data while on the road.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need","og_site_name":"Esri","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","article_modified_time":"2021-09-02T15:28:42+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2021\/01\/arcnews-banner-infinland-wide.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"In Finland, a geospatial app gives transport drivers the information they need | ArcNews | Winter 2021","twitter_description":"Tietorahti Oy, Finnish transport consulting company, created a mobile app to easily access critical data while on the road.","twitter_site":"@Esri","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need","name":"In Finland, a Geospatial App Gives Transport Drivers the Information They Need | ArcNews | Winter 2021","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-01-20T03:59:18+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-02T15:28:42+00:00","description":"Tietorahti Oy, Finnish transport consulting company, created a mobile app to easily access critical data while on the road.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-finland-a-geospatial-app-gives-transport-drivers-the-information-they-need#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ArcNews Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"In Finland, a Geospatial App Gives Transport Drivers the Information They Need"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/","name":"Esri","description":"Esri Newsroom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/2ea2e24ff1bf1335829717357eaf3b3a","name":"Lidia Davidson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69fae831c26e7d10c2c6cdaff1c8c9f2e148d083fe79f851e5ad201f7793fad5?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69fae831c26e7d10c2c6cdaff1c8c9f2e148d083fe79f851e5ad201f7793fad5?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Lidia Davidson"},"url":""}]}},"sort_order":"9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcnews\/397681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcnews"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/arcnews"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcnews\/397681\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397681"},{"taxonomy":"arcnews_issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/arcnews_issues?post=397681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}