What the exponential growth of big data will mean for travel technology in 2019

Greater data collaboration will drive industry innovation

One of the most exciting and important developments next year will be greater collaboration between transport operators, tech companies and policy makers. Currently, information in the travel industry is siloed - operators may control one dataset, governments another and technology companies another. We'll begin to see those silos breakdown, which will greatly benefit the end customer.

From a data perspective that will mean greater sharing of information between different parties. Real-time travel information is an important example of this and is crucial in helping travellers stay more informed of updates to their journeys.

At Trainline we're working hard to offer real-time journey information in our app for carriers across Europe, most recently launching it for Trenitalia journeys in Italy. In France meanwhile, we have opened up our own data-sets to the government's open data portal Etalab, sharing information on around 30,000 stops, stations and cities to help other travel tech companies build new features that will benefit travellers across the country.

In the UK policy makers are also encouraging open access to useful data. The Joint Rail Data Action Plan, announced by the Government earlier this year to remove barriers to information sharing in the rail industry, is starting to come into effect from December. One key benefit of this will be increased access to GPS data from rail operators.

Today, the technology industry still relies on signal data to track train location - these are placed at various points along each track but can be miles apart in some instances. Providing GPS data to technology businesses means we'll go from location accuracy being within a matter of miles, to a matter of metres - it's an incredible exciting step forward.

Overall, this collaboration is great news for travellers. In 2019 expect to see travel data opening up, with travel apps becoming even more innovative, accurate and useful.

Super-fast 5G could usher in the Augmented Reality era

Next year the first 5G-enabled handsets are expected to hit consumer's pockets. With speeds estimated to reach 10Gbps (gigabytes per second), for many 5G will provide even faster connections than their traditional home broadband does. While 4G largely enabled the seamless access to streaming music and video on the go, 5G is likely to open up more complex applications such as those implementing Augmented Reality (AR).

AR broadly works by layering contextual information over the real world using your device screen. To do this effectively while on the go requires a lot of data to be shared. The number of variables (such as the angles at which you hold your phone) and the complexity of analysing and recognising a 3D space, mean that a lot of information needs to be sent back and forth from the device very quickly - which 5G speeds will help enable.

In the travel space, Augmented Reality will come to support highly detailed updates on travel. For example, highlighting the specific part of the platform closest to the carriage where a reservation is, which train door to leave through to be closer to the station exit or which barriers are in use to exit through. Overall, it will provide a step toward making rushing to find a train a thing of the past.

What the exponential growth of big data will mean for travel technology in 2019

While data volume grows, quality will remain as important as ever

The volume of data being collected is growing exponentially and that will continue in 2019.

While that means we will begin to unlock more power from data-powered innovations such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality or machine learning tools, it also means we will need more scrutiny of low-quality data. Data is the fuel for these next generation technologies, but we get out what we put in - if the data isn't accurate, neither will the features be.

Some systems, such as Google's TensorFlow - go a way to alleviate the risks of low quality data by highlighting areas of datasets that are sub-standard. However, it's something that needs to be instilled at the organisational level, and there's no quick fix. If businesses want to unlock the power of AI and machine-learning capabilities they need to have the foundational capabilities underneath them.

In travel technology, with the number of different parties sharing transport data this quality-first culture needs to become an industry standard. As a matter of collective and individual responsibility, a respect for data quality - and relevant training - across an organisation and beyond the tech team is likely to become ingrained across more businesses in 2019.

Sustainable travel choices will become a consumer priority

Environmental concerns are, rightfully, going to be at the top of many people's agendas going into 2019. Making more sustainable travel choices is one of the biggest ways individuals can shrink their carbon footprint, and in 2019 we'll see that impact decision making more when it comes to journey planning.

Car sales are falling in the UK, and that trend is likely to continue, with people looking to maximise the efficiency of their journeys. Combined with the growth of cutting-edge high-speed international rail networks across the globe, which offer a more sustainable, comfortable and enjoyable alternative to short or medium haul flights, we'll see the second golden age of train travel picking up steam.

Fergus Weldon, Director of Data Science at Trainline