8 minute read
Shaping the Future TomTom maps the self-driving revolution
from The Spartan #02
by weareWAES
For Feron, the fact that the two met fitted in with the path she was already on. “As a youngster I was already always asking questions: what are we doing here? What significance does it have? What is our connection to nature?”
Healthy food
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The meeting of the two was the prelude to starting a business of their own: Phood. A restaurant and an urban farm where vegetables are grown on the basis of aquaponics. In a nutshell, it works like this: fish in a large aquarium provide the fertilizer for different types of leafy vegetables that are grown under special lights. A pure way of growing healthy food.
“It’s a great way to connect nature with technology”, continues Timothy. “We use lamps by Signify that are really high-tech. Soon we will be working with lamps that are even more efficient. But nature still dictates the pace. With these kinds of super lamps you can speed up the cultivation process a little, but never more than nature allows you. That is actually very nice in a world where technology seems to dictate the pace. You can’t rush nature.”
High-tech and nature
Another high-tech idea: robotising Phood’s kitchen. “In doing so, we’re mainly looking at chores that don’t make anyone happy. Like cutting onions for five hours in a row. There must be a way to do this more efficiently with the help of robots. This will leave more time for the fun aspects of cooking: devising recipes or even harvesting your own vegetables. Putting your hands in the ground. That is a super healthy thing to do. And it’s fun.”
Their interest in healthy food didn’t come out of nowhere. For years, this kind of food is a key ingredient of their own wellbeing. “If I don’t eat healthy, restorative food, I feel it immediately. My energy leaks right away”, Timothy explains. “Healthy food is very personal”, says Sabine. “It’s a quest for what works best for you. We work with old methods like fermentation to extract as much power as possible from the food.”
Temptations
Most of Timothy’s former fellow students did not find themselves on this kind of path. “More than 80 percent of them now work for large corporates. Of course, there is much more money to be made there. And fair is fair: there are plenty of temptations for us too. For instance financial ones. It’s sometimes difficult to resist them and stay close to your overall goals”, says Timothy. “We were founded at the beginning of the corona era”, Sabine adds. “Suddenly everything we were building up fell away. At one point we started organising parties on the grounds in front of the restaurant in order to survive financially.” Timothy again: “That made me so unhappy. Pumping, drunk and sexing people everywhere. What on earth are we doing?” I thought.
Sabine: “Sometimes you have to do something you really don’t want to before you can let it go. We very much allow each other to make mistakes.” Timothy: “Our real strength is that we believe deeply in what we do. We want to add value. To the city, to people. For what we do, you have to be in it for the long haul. It is like planting an apple tree. It doesn’t yield immediate results. You can only reap the benefits ten years later. But then it has really been worth the effort and the waiting.”
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5 WAES TO... RELAX
Sun, sea and… checking your work emails on a daily basis. For many of us it’s hard to fully disconnect during our holiday. By not doing so, we deny ourselves the opportunity to really recharge. The solution? Anti stress holiday prepping.
#1 Holiday = a chance to get better at your job
If you really switch off from work, your stress levels will plummet and your creative powers will triumph. That’s why it’s a good idea to reframe your holiday as an enhancement tool that makes you better at your job.
#2 Delegate and say ‘no’
First decide what really needs to get done during your absence and what can wait until you’re back. After that, delegate the necessary tasks to your ‘gatekeeper’ or team members. If it’s really necessary, make it possible for them to contact you in case of an emergency. In the run-up to your holiday, dare to say ‘no’. Don’t take on new assignments and cut back on the number of meetings.
#4 Disconnect
Once you’re on the beach, don’t check your email. If you really, really need to (which in most cases, you don’t) only do it once in a couple of days. Stop receiving emails on your phone is drastic, but effective. At least turn off notifications for work applications and put WhatsApp groups from work on mute. If it’s possible, leave your phone in the hotel safe.
#3 Manage your mail
Let certain clients or colleagues personally know that you’re on holiday. For all the others: switch on your ‘out of the office’, in which you set the date of return one or two days later than your actual return to the office. Make rules for certain emails to be forwarded to a colleague who can deal with them immediately. And most important: leave with your inbox empty.
#5 De-stress
Spend your time lowering your stress level even more: read a book, meditate, make breakfast everyday or enjoy nature. It gives you the chance to reflect on your achievements and your goals for the future. Yes, also the ones you set at work.
Enjoying Netflix on the go while your self-driving car takes you to your destination. Via the fastest route and without being stuck in traffic for even a minute. This scenario is still quite far away, but TomTom is already anticipating that future. With increasingly detailed maps and information available in the blink of an eye.
By Ilona de Bok / Illustrations TomTom
Ah, those good old navigation devices for your car. It almost sounds nostalgic, but they are what Dutch company TomTom has become world champion with. In fact, for a long time ‘a TomTom’ was synonymous for navigation system. But times change. Everyone has a super powerful computer in their pocket that runs free navigation software from Google, Apple or another provider.
TomTom took on the challenge to reinvent itself. Now, the company sees itself as the leading independent geolocation technology specialist. To achieve this, TomTom provides extremely detailed maps that are constantly updated. Ready for a world in which autonomous driving will ultimately become reality.
Paradigm shift
Federico Evers is Engineering Manager in the Cloud Services department, part of TomTom’s Automotive department. “That department creates complete solutions for car manufacturers and their partners. We no longer make the hardware in the car. Modern cars have a complete cockpit of screens. Users don’t only manage their navigation on it, but also use Spotify and control the heating of the car seats. We provide the tools, services and the user interface that the car manufacturer uses to put that dashboard together.”
A paradigm shift that is already well underway is the shift to real-time online navigation services and information. “As a driver you want to have the latest algorithms, the latest map and navigation information, and the most recent traffic information. Everything you do with your smartphone can now also be done in the car. That is a huge revolution for car manufacturers. Every car must have a mobile chip with a 3G or 4G connection and have a lot of bandwidth. You also use mobile data for entertainment and information.” At the same time, TomTom must also continue to support the traditional way of navigation for less modern cars that will be running for at least another ten years.
Realtime information
Customers expect the information to be fully up-to-date while driving. “That applies not only to traffic information, but also, for example, to information about charging stations for electric vehicles.
A wild ride: TomTom’s history
1991
Founding of Palmtop, which develops applications for the very first handheld computers. The company mainly manufactures dictionaries, financial software, games and... route planners.
1996
The Palm Pilot becomes a wildly popular organizer. The applications that Palmtop provides brings the company international success.
2001
The company is renamed TomTom. It launches the Navigator, a mobile navigation system for the car.
2004
Launch of TomTom Go (a standalone navigation system) and TomTom Mobile: the first navigation application for smartphones.
2005
TomTom is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. A year later, it is included in the AEX index.
2008
Acquisition of the map specialist Tele Atlas.
2021
TomTom introduces IndiGo, an Android-based operating system for in-car infotainment.
2022
TomTom has increasingly specialized in creating and improving maps and providing traffic information and other data to optimize routes, specifically for electric vehicles. The company also makes maps and applications for car manufacturers and other companies.
Switch to DevOps
Maps need to be updated increasingly. The way TomTom develops its maps is now fully adapted to this. Federico Evers: “TomTom has largely made a switch to DevOps. We now develop maps and services in the same way that modern companies develop software. Our team has several microservices for which it is responsible from A to Z. From the requirements up to and including testing in the field, so we can quickly implement adjustments.”
This now works quite stable, according to Evers. “The next step is to ensure that we have high availability, that our services are available for 99,99 percent any time any place. This uptime is important, because we offer a complete landscape of services that all need to have a high uptime. If you as a team Dev and Ops are jointly responsible for the service, you can solve these kinds of issues very quickly.”
