INSIGHTS / News

• iGeolise doubles the number of relevant results returned when  searching  for location specific information (such as jobs , restaurants  or properties),  by using time instead of distance.
• Judges included the UK Space Agency, the Technology Strategy Board, the International Space Innovation Centre, Logica and Astrium.

The world’s first technology that allows you to search for location specific information such as jobs, restaurants or houses by the time it takes to get there, not the distance ‘as the crow flies’, has been chosen by heads of the UK space industry as the most promising new business in the sector.

iGeolise turns conventional distance-based web searching into ‘journey time searches’ and promises to double the number of relevant results you get when searching for location specific information from, for example, restaurant guides, property websites or online job listings. Using satellite derived maps overlaid with public transport data, road travel time information and average walking speeds, it can rank and sort several thousand points by travel time virtually instantly. It means rather than searching for jobs within a mile of your house you could now, for example, search for those that are within a 45 minute drive or public transport commute at 07:45 on a weekday morning.

The UK Satellite Navigation Competition (UKSnC) is part of a global competition aimed at stimulating new innovations in satellite navigation for use in technologies like smart phone apps and location-based services. The competition in the UK is organised by the University of Nottingham’s GNSS Research and Applications Centre of Excellence (GRACE), themselves experts in satellite navigation and the panel of judges included  sponsors such as the UK Space Agency, the Technology Strategy Board, the International Space Innovation Centre, EADS Astrium, Logica and the Science and Technologies Facilities Council.

Over 400 business ideas from around the world were put before judging panels in each country as part of this year’s competition, of which 77 were from the UK, the highest number for any territory. As UK champions, iGeolise were automatically put forward as the UK representatives in the global competition where they finished a close third, only one point behind the two winners who tied for first place.

iGeolise was co-founded by young entrepreneur, Charlie Davies, 25 who had the original idea, and his business partner and co-founder Peter Lilley. Today the technology provides time based searches across the UK, New York and San Francisco. It has also been trialled in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Russia, India & China, though, as it is able to take any map as its base data source, it could be used virtually anywhere across the globe.

As well as embedding the technology in a website search facility, the platform can also be used for one-off location-based projects. iGeolise has carried out a project for TalkTalk who wanted to find the best place to relocate 1000 staff whilst minimising the impact on their journey times. The Guardian  Media Group  has also used it to identify convenient locations for regional events that were easily accessible for their subscribers.