Student Learning Hub: Fireside Chat with Chris Wichman of Airsage

February 21, 2024

On Wednesday, February 21, C2SMARTER hosted a Fireside Chat with Christopher Wichman of AirSage that was moderated by NYU Tandon School of Engineering PhD Candidate Haggai Davis, III, as part of our Student Learning Hub Series.

The discussion, titled ‘Fueling Innovation: An Industry View on CV Data and its Applications,’ focused on insightful perspectives on the transformative impact of connected vehicle data across the transportation sector. Chris began by explaining the two major sources of CV data: the higher quality data direct from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) vs. data from an aftermarket, third party, or mobile device.

OEM data contains information about a vehicle’s geographic coordinates, heading, speed, timestamp, and a unique vehicle identifier. After market data is cheaper and more plentiful but usually requires more cleaning. 

AirSage has been providing Origin Destination data since they were triangulating from cell towers, making them one of the most experienced brokers in the field. Chris discussed the strength of AirSage’s tools and their ability to help end users to right-size their solutions. He illustrated this point with the humorous anecdote of a university professor who requested as much as he could get and ended up as the #1 largest data holder for the entire university. 

Questions from the audience prompted conversations about the future of probe data collection from both the technological side and also the regulatory side. Chris pointed out that AirSage is already thoughtful and serious about data privacy, so they are equipped to handle the social trend of increasing awareness around these issues.

C2SMARTER thanks Chris for sharing his insight and thanks AirSage for helping to fuel our research pursuits!

Watch the video of their full discussion here: