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We go beyond main cities in Indonesia: Here Technologies
The Jakarta Post's M. Taufiqurrahman joined the presentation of some of its new innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, in the United States, earlier in January and talked with Stanimira Koleva, the company's senior vice president and general manager of Asia Pacific.
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Amsterdam-based tech firm Here Technologies is one of the biggest players in 3D mapping technologies and a key player in the development of autonomous vehicles. (The Jakarta Post/Here Techologies)
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ou may not have direct knowledge of 3D mapping company Here Technologies, but if you drive a smart car, the chances are that it is embedded with sophisticated maps built by this Amsterdam-based tech firm. A global leader in mapping and location services, Here Technologies is working to provide high-definition 3D maps that will be crucial for autonomous vehicles to be able to navigate roads safely. Yet, as the autonomous vehicle project has hit speed bumps worldwide, Here Technologies is switching gear to deploy its 3D mapping technology for more practical purposes like helping to manage smart cities and bringing more efficiency to last-mile delivery.
Last year, Japanese firm Mitsubishi and telecom giant NTT acquired a 30 percent stake in Here, hoping to harness the company's strength to reduce traffic and improve efficiency. Following the deal, the two Japanese firms will become major investors, alongside BMW, Daimler and Audi, as well as parts makers Bosch and Continental. On invitation from Here Technologies, The Jakarta Post's M. Taufiqurrahman joined the presentation of some of its new innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, in the United States, earlier in January and talked with Stanimira Koleva, the company's senior vice president and general manager of Asia Pacific. Below are excerpts from the interview.
Question: What are the areas of growth in Asia?
Answer: For the first time, we're seeing technology and geo-services merging together. The legacy of our business is just having a map. But we're now much more than that map, we are more than navigation and how to find your way. We can also help transportation and logistics, last-mile delivery and real estate management.
On the back of it, we're investing heavily in both extending coverage in rural areas and making sure we have the best granularity from a geo-coverage point of view. Indonesia is one of countries where we're investing heavily to extend beyond the main cities and go to more provincial areas and the partnership that we have with the likes of Mitsubishi and NTT, which have invested a lot in business in Southeast Asia, is to create new capabilities around transportation and logistics, fleet management, optimization of routes, better coverage for the supply chain around the country.
What are your specific plans for Indonesia?
We know the infrastructure is improving. We just want to make sure that digital investment follows and is in line with the potential of the Indonesian market. In that sense it is quite exciting that we have a strong pedigree with automotive. In the past five years, the focus for us has been to branch out to other industries and in the case of Southeast Asia, the other two big potentials are logistics and government, with smart cities, citizen services that involve location and I feel quite excited at the opportunity although the overall market is growing in single digits.
