What is Arity Insights? 3 themes from the mobility data ecosystem

Last month, Arity brought the entire mobility data ecosystem together to discuss challenges, share ideas, and uncover new opportunities. From September 30^th to October 2^nd in Scottsdale, AZ, key stakeholders joined us for our inaugural Arity Insights event, and we embarked on a journey to first, level set and second, map out actionable and immediate steps towards the future of mobility.

Here are three key themes from Arity Insights 2024.

#1 Level set: We all have a role to play in the future of mobility

Earlier this year, Arity President Gary Hallgren wrote a call to action, urging everyone to join us in fixing our broken transportation system – to help us make it smarter, safer, and more useful. To further momentum, we hosted Arity Insights to establish a forum where key stakeholders can come together and collaborate towards this shared goal.

This event stemmed from a desire to uncover challenges and overcome obstacles in mobility. While there is an enormous amount of data available to do those things, many key stakeholders are operating in silos, and not everyone knows the full extent of data that is available and what insights can be garnered from it. We believe that creating a shared data ecosystem will equip us all with the insights needed to build a better future.

Auto insurers, car manufacturers, mobile publishers, data scientists, transportation agencies, and beyond joined us for the event. Each participant, regardless of industry and role, was as passionate as we are when it comes to harnessing the power of data to drive meaningful change.

At Arity Insights, we heard from several leaders and experts, who each shared their role and point of view in the mobility data ecosystem. Why? As we work towards this mission in our own areas of expertise, there’s great potential to accelerate success through data collaboration, and it all starts with empathy.

#2 Level set: Mobility data is a powerful asset to help us achieve our goals

Rather than focus on specific, siloed industries, Arity Insights seeks to unite the entire mobility data ecosystem in an open, collaborative forum. During his keynote speech, Gary urged everyone to start with empathy.

In their own way, each industry player is using mobility data to support their own goals in making transportation smarter, safer, or more useful. For instance:

• Auto insurers may be using this data to protect customers through safe-driving programs.
• Mobile publishers may be using this data to provide crash detection or other valuable app features to users.
• Transportation agencies may be using this data in aggregate to pinpoint and fix hot spots for road risk.

However, as with any life-changing, life-saving mission, we can’t do it alone. Collaboration is our key to success in the future of mobility.

Before we can start to map out opportunities for data collaboration, we need empathy across the ecosystem – i.e., an understanding of why each key player is collecting the data they’re collecting along with what they’re trying to accomplish with it.

These insights were shared as each panelist discussed how they’re currently using mobility data, the challenges they’re facing, and the potential areas of opportunity they see.

#3 Map out: We need to collaborate to accelerate for success

After aligning on a shared understanding and fostering empathy across the ecosystem, we put our heads together to build on our learnings in collaborative workshops. In cross-industry groups, we mapped out actionable steps around how we can drive meaningful change on our roadways while upholding our shared responsibility to be good data stewards.

Together, we discussed three topics in-depth:

• How to practically share data across organizations in a privacy-centric way – Focused on enabling data collaboration using data clean rooms to protect privacy, security, and anonymity of data.
• Transportation planning with anonymized data – Focused on understanding if we have the tools necessary to achieve safer roads.
• Trustworthy: Creating pathways for consent – Focused on exploring the opportunities to build and maintain consumer trust around the collection and use of mobility data.

The amazing thing is that these conversations sparked new ideas and uncovered exciting opportunities – all of which we are going to continue to iterate on as a more cohesive, unified mobility data ecosystem.

What’s next?

Thankfully, our attendees found Arity Insights 2024 as valuable as we did. Since the event, we’ve heard great feedback around how unique and beneficial it was to come together as a broader ecosystem.

“I’ve done quite a few speaking engagements over the past couple of years. This has been one of the most productive, thoughtful, and frankly a bit surprising. I’ve been very, very encouraged by the tone and context of the conversation – really focused on empathy for the consumer and how we all can align working together, sort of cross-functionally across our industries.” – Arity Insights 2024 attendee

We’re excited to announce that Arity Insights will return in 2025! While the event will remain invitation-only, you can learn more and express your interest on our event page.