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Staying alive: how technology can minimise the risks of distracted driving
This article was originally published on Safety Solutions and is republished here with permission.
Source: Safety Solutions – Staying alive: how technology can minimise the risks of distracted driving
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Having drivers on your team who don’t keep their full attention on the road is dangerous on multiple fronts. GEORGE HOLT, Compliance Manager at Zetifi, set out how technology may be able to help.
Twiddling with the sound system, sipping on a hot or cold drink, surreptitiously scrolling or messaging on a phone… There’s a plethora of ways drivers can have their attention taken away from the road, manually, visually and mentally.
And when that happens, the chances of a road accident or incident increase significantly. So much so that distracted driving is the main contributing factor in about 16% of serious casualty road crashes, according to the Australian Automobile Association.
In recent years, mobile phones have emerged as one of the chief causes of driver distraction, here in Australia and around the world.
Taking responsibility for workers’ behaviour on the road
If one of your employees is involved in an incident or accident while they’re on the job and driving a company vehicle, it’s not only a problem for them and the individuals they’ve endangered or injured; it’s a serious risk for your business.
Damage to company vehicles can disrupt operations and push up your insurance premiums; putting a dent in your profitability and bottom line.
Your brand and business reputation may take a hit too, if driver distraction has led to a worker causing serious harm, or worse, to other road users or pedestrians, as well as themselves.
And in today’s times, the legal responsibility for that harm may not fall on the perpetrator alone.
Your organisation could be deemed responsible, as could the individuals who lead it. There’s an onus on directors to mitigate known risks and that means those who don’t take steps to address the danger posed by distracted drivers could potentially find themselves held personally liable for any adverse outcomes that ensue.
Turning to technology to tackle driver distraction
Responsible businesses will already have policies in place to keep their employees safe. Typically, these will preclude eating, drinking, vaping and using devices while driving.
Policies should also mandate regular breaks when workers are travelling long distances. But setting strict rules is one thing; enforcing them can be quite another matter.
That’s where technology has an important role to play. It can help ensure that when workers are behind the wheel they’re not zoning out or turning their attention to text messages and social media feeds on their phone when they should be keeping their eyes on the road.
Devices today can sense worker environments, deliver precise location awareness and create intelligent connections between devices, systems and people, via connectivity, telematics and applications, including vehicle-mounted camera arrays.
The signals they detect and transmit can be swiftly and seamlessly interpreted and forwarded to key personnel responsible for instigating an immediate and appropriate response.
Smart antennas seamlessly integrated with third party applications, such as telematics, can be a game changer. There are several compelling use cases, from context aware tracking to enhance lone worker safety via the use of a smart antenna, to detecting mobile phone usage with a dash camera integrated with edge AI.
The latter can provide accurate, up-to-the-second intelligence on how employees are conducting themselves behind the wheel, along with the ability to correct aberrant behaviour immediately, via alerts, nudges and messages that remind distracted drivers to focus on the road.
Implemented across your company fleet, this technology can be an effective means of reducing the risk of an accident in the moment, and the catalyst for positive changes to your organisation’s driving and workplace culture over the longer term.
Taking smart steps to protect the public and your business
Whatever the nature of your business, ensuring your employees act in a safe and responsible manner when they’re on the job and on the road is critical.
Implementing platforms and processes that demonstrate you’re serious about doing so can help you protect the public, your organisation’s assets and its reputation and bottom line. Having access to technology that allows you to monitor and manage worker safety and on-road behaviour means you can be secure in the knowledge you’re doing all you can to mitigate the risk posed by driver distraction when your workers are behind the wheel.
If having a mobile workforce that’s an asset not a liability is important to your business, it’s an investment that makes excellent sense.
Zetifi keeps the drinks flowing at the Winter Bites Festival
It was a bitterly cold day but I suppose that’s only fitting for the inaugural Winter Bites Festival event, and it certainly didn’t stop the crowd from enjoying an evening of food, wine and music!
The only thing that did threaten the event in the lead-up was a lack of mobile phone coverage. Without service, the organisers were concerned that the vendors in attendance wouldn’t able to operate their point-of-sale units. The event was held at Courabyra Wines near Tumbarumba in the Snowy Valleys region of NSW – an area that is still recovering from the property and business losses caused by the devasting bushfires of 2020.
Our team were very pleased to swing into action and help out by providing Wi-Fi for the event. To achieve this we hooked up a detachable mast to our display trailer and within 20 minutes of arriving on site, we’d erected the mast and connected our ZetiBase to provide Wi-Fi across the whole event site for the many food and drink transactions that followed!
We’re heading to the Riverina Field Days
The 2021 Field Days season is upon us! The Riverina Field Days are being held at the Griffith Showgrounds on Thursday 14 and Friday 15 May. As a proud Riverina business, it seems quite appropriate that our first hit out for the year is in the second-best town in the Riverina (just behind Wagga Wagga of course!).
We’ll be debuting our newly fitted-out display trailer with a schmick new decal and other cool additions to show off our home internet and Wi-Fi solutions for farmers and rural residents.
Please stop by and say g’day to Luke or Rob if you’d like to know more about how we can connect your home or farm with fast and reliable Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi small cell fills in blackspot on Birchip-Sea Lake Road
Zetifi’s vision for solving connectivity in rural and remote areas includes the provision of multiple public access Wi-Fi small cells to fill in the gaps at known blackspots. Being able to deliver on this strategy relies on many complementary ideas and innovations, including ‘sleepy’ Wi-Fi power management, proprietary software to remotely deploy and manage our networks, and ruggedised farm-tough product design and construction. Over the last 12 months, we’ve had the opportunity to test and validate many aspects of our approach and technology as part of an extensive connectivity pilot project with Birchip Cropping Group (BCG). Many of BCG’s members have significant connectivity problems and they were interested in investigating the possibility for farm-wide and region-wide Wi-Fi from Zetifi as part of the solution. Whilst it won’t solve the problem on its own, we recently installed a single standalone solar-powered ZetiCell along Birchip-Sea Lake Road as part of this project to demonstrate the potential of our small cells in rural and remote blackspots. The small cell consists of a ZetiCell gateway mounted on a ZetiPod, which is a specially designed structure that is built to withstand rough treatment from livestock and can be delivered and deployed without the need for heavy machinery or site preparation. Within 30 minutes of arriving on site, we’d installed a permanent long-range Wi-Fi connection that’s ready for use.
Zetifi to receive $1.47 million from the NSW Government Physical Sciences Fund
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes announced at an event at the Sydney Startup Hub last night that four NSW companies, including Zetifi, will share in $5 million from the NSW Government Physical Sciences Fund which will provide funding to bring their innovative technologies to market.
The Physical Sciences Fund (PSF) is a NSW Government competitive development and commercialisation program run by the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer. The PSF aims to deliver significant social, economic and environmental benefits to NSW by providing financial support for the development of new and innovative devices and systems across the branches of the physical sciences and engineering, including physics, chemistry, astronomy and the earth sciences.
“This fund supports the work of some of the State’s best minds by ensuring their ingenious technologies are developed and commercialised,” said Mr Stokes. “The innovations will be translated into devices and applications which will make lives easier for communities across the State.”
Zetifi will receive $1.47 million to develop scalable manufacturing capacity for our ZetiCell and ZetiRover technologies.
As Zetifi CEO & Founder Dan Winson explains, this funding will enable us to manufacture our products at the scale needed to support our growth and expand to new markets.
“This generous funding will support the commercialisation of Zetifi’s technology and help to deliver much needed connectivity solutions for farmers and families in rural and remote areas. The grant funding will be used to scale up our manufacturing facility in Wagga so we can deliver our existing solutions at scale to the Australian and US markets making a real difference to farmers struggling with unreliable mobile or internet services.” said Dan.
For more information about the Physical Sciences Fund and future funding rounds, please visit https://www.chiefscientist.nsw.gov.au/funding/research-and-development/nsw-physical-sciences-fund
Do you have poor mobile coverage? We need you! Register your interest in participating in AVST funded trials
Zetifi is calling for farmers in New South Wales and northern Victoria to express their interest in trialling Zetifi solutions, as part the Morrison Government’s $2 million Alternative Voice Services Trial (AVST) Program. Zetifi will provide a multi-carrier connection so that triallists can confidently use Wi-Fi Calling to make calls, even when the household has poor or no mobile cellular coverage. The AVST Program seeks to assess and validate alternative technologies to provide better phone services and functionality in rural and remote areas.
Zetifi Founder and CEO Dan Winson explained that instead of relying solely on their current mobile, satellite or high-capacity radio concentrator (HCRC) coverage to make voice calls, Zetifi will provide a multi-carrier connection so that triallists can confidently use Wi-Fi Calling to make calls, even when the household has poor or no mobile cellular coverage.
While Wi-Fi Calling is not new, the maturity of the technology makes it an attractive alternative to traditional voice services for those living in areas with poor or patchy mobile coverage. The increased reliability, resilience and range of Zetifi’s ruggedised Wi-Fi means that rural and remote residents are less reliant on their proximity to mobile towers and other network infrastructure.
“Many of us living in highly populated areas take our phone service or mobile coverage for granted but that’s not the case for many people in rural and remote areas. The disruptions caused by the current pandemic, combined with more people wanting to work from rural and remote areas, have only emphasised the need for reliable connectivity,” said Dan.
“We’re keen to hear from farmers who are interested in taking part in these trials. By providing these farmers with a Zetifi Wi-Fi network, which enable them to make Wi-Fi calls, we’re aiming to prove that our technology can not only provide a solution to poor mobile coverage but provide a stable and reliable replacement for the legacy radio and copper network in rural and remote areas.”
The program will provide 50 farmers with access to a fully subsidised hardware installation and a 12 month subscription to Zetifi solutions to help them access better connectivity for Wi-Fi calls. 40 farmers will receive a ZetiBase, which predominantly provides indoor Wi-Fi for areas where weak mobile signals cannot penetrate the residence. The remaining 10 trial participants will be provided with a ZetiCell, a longer-range solution for areas with very poor coverage that provides outdoor Wi-Fi and the option to extend connectivity to sheds, yards and across the farm.
The company is looking to have all 50 units installed and ready to use by May 31.
Dan says the ZetiBase and ZetiCell solutions are just a few of the Zetifi hardware solutions developed to leverage existing telecommunications infrastructure while filling in connectivity gaps in the bush.
“While our focus in the AVST is on providing better home voice services, our unique advantage is that we can also provide more robust data connectivity and extend this connectivity right across the farm so that farmers need not drive home or to the top of a hill to get a connection,” he said.
The AVST Program will last for 12 months and participants will be able to continue their service and subscription at the conclusion of the trial.
To register your interest in receiving a Zetifi solution as part of the AVST Program, email hello@zetifi.com or call 1300 093 711.
Federal Government announces Zetifi as a service provider for the Alternative Voice Services Trial Program
The Morrison Government today announced NBN Co, Concerotel and Zetifi as the first three grant recipients under its competitive $2 million Alternative Voice Services Trials (AVST) Program.
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said that the trials aim to find better ways of delivering voice services for the future. Zetifi will deliver up to 50 trial voice services to provide improved Wi-Fi calling for farms in rural and remote areas of New South Wales and northern Victoria that currently experience poor mobile coverage.
Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government, the Hon Mark Coulton MP is encouraging rural and remote Australians to consider taking part in the trials. The grantees will ramp up recruitment of participants for the trials in the coming months so those consumers interested in participating in the trials should stay tuned for details.
More information is available on the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications website at https://www.communications.gov.au/what-we-do/phone/phone-services/universal-service-guarantee-telecommunications/alternative-voice-services-trials-program
G’day New York! Zetifi awarded US$500,000 in prestigious US agtech competition
Zetifi has claimed one of the top prizes in the hotly contested Cornell University Grow-NY Food and Agriculture Business Competition, taking home US$500,000 for second place.
Grow-NY is a high-profile food and agriculture business competition that is delivered by Cornell University in partnership with Empire State Development and the NYS Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture. The program identifies, supports, and funds the top food, beverage, and agriculture innovations across the globe, with the aim of establishing Upstate New York as a global leader in agtech development and adoption. The competition win includes prize money, mentorship, training, business development support, and tax incentives.
Zetifi will establish a team in Rochester, New York, during 2021 to continue development of the company’s proprietary network deployment and management software and as a base for commercial sales and product trials in Upstate New York.
Zetifi and Case IH partnership introduces unique connectivity solution to New York farmers
US-based CNH Industrial, owner of agricultural equipment machinery company Case IH, actively engages with startups around the world to identify new and innovative solutions. The two companies first met in 2019 at the AgriFutures EvokeAg conference and Case IH immediately recognised the potential of Zetifi’s unique approach to solving the issue of poor network coverage on farms using power-efficient long-range Wi-Fi.
This introduction has since developed into a productive partnership between Zetifi and Case IH Australia/New Zealand, through a series of successful customer trials involving a portable Wi-Fi repeater fitted to a tractor, enabling a machine’s telematics, remote support and data transfer capabilities; along with Wi-Fi calling, messaging, email and internet access for the machine’s operator. As a result of these successful Australian trials, Zetifi is looking to replicate these trials in other markets and is in discussions with large US Case IH dealership, Monroe Tractor, which has multiple locations across New York State.
This project has been made possible by Zetifi’s involvement in the 2020 Grow-NY Food and Agriculture Competition, of which Zetifi has just been named a finalist. Beyond the chance to secure some welcome funding from the $3M prize money available, it has allowed the company to make some valuable contacts in New York State and potentially offer its technology to farmers in the US experiencing similar coverage problems to their counterparts in rural and regional Australia.
Opening event for new office and factory in East Wagga Wagga
On the 14th of September, Zetifi was joined by Federal MP for the Riverina and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, NSW member for Wagga Wagga Dr Joe McGirr, and other dignitaries for the opening of our new factory and office in East Wagga Wagga.
Mr McCormack remarked upon Zetifi’s innovative technology and ability to fill in the connectivity gaps for farmers and other residents in rural and remote areas.
This new office and factory provides the space needed for Zetifi’s growing team which has grown from just one person to nine full-time employees in just 18 months.
This new facility has been made possible by way of the $644,370 from the Federal Government through the Accelerating Commercialisation program and an additional $680,000 from private investors.
Full media release from Michael McCormack MP: https://www.michaelmccormack.com.au/media-releases/2020/9/14/644370-federal-government-grant-helps-get-zetifi-off-the-ground
Accelerating Commercialisation grant received to develop ‘sleepy’ Wi-Fi technology
Zetifi has been awarded a $644,370 Federal Government grant to continue the development of its ‘sleepy’ Wi-Fi technology. This technology decreases the power demand for Wi-Fi systems and makes it possible to deploy off-grid Wi-Fi solutions into rural and remote locations.
The grant will enable Zetifi to employ new staff with specialised skills in software development, networking and manufacturing.
Government announcement: https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/karenandrews/media-releases/28m-grants-boost-aussie-innovation
Zetifi raises $12m Series A round to ready on-farm and remote area connectivity solutions for mass-market launch
WAGGA WAGGA – Dec. 7th, 2022 – Wagga Wagga-based connectivity company Zetifi announced today that it has raised $12m through a Series A funding round led by Telstra and GrainCorp, with participation from existing investors including Cultiv8 Funds Management, GrainInnovate, and Artesian.
The company’s long-range Wi-Fi coverage extension products address a major barrier to the digitalisation of agriculture and are recognised as a foundational technology that will unlock significant value from on-farm digital technologies in the years ahead.
“Our experiences over the last few years confirm that agriculture and the ag services sectors are eager to adopt digital technology and automation, as long they have a connectivity solution that supports it,” said Zetifi CEO & Founder, Dan Winson.
Dan credits their focus on the unique connectivity needs of agriculture and remote areas, and proximity to these customers from their regional base, for much of their success to date.
“We approached the problem from the farmers’ perspective and the ability to be on-farm testing our ideas within a few minutes has accelerated the development of our products and technology,” said Dan.
“It’s allowed us to rapidly iterate and refine the scalable applications of our technology that we’ll now be preparing for the mass-market.
“This will involve doubling our software and product teams, scaling manufacturing to support demand in Australia, and taking on the US market within the next 12-18 months.”
Telstra’s investment reflects its commitment to supporting connectivity and innovation for the benefit of regional and remote communities.
Luke Harwood, Head of Innovation & Managing Director of Telstra’s early-stage investment arm, muru-D explains: “We’ve worked with Dan and the Zetifi team since they were part of our muru-D start-up accelerator program in 2019. We’re thrilled to see the progress they have made since then and the support we can provide as they scale.”
“There is massive opportunity for technology to help Aussie farmers boost agricultural output and play a bigger part in Australia’s growing digital economy. Innovations like those developed by Zetifi and our other agtech investments that leverage our network and scale for the benefit of farmers, local jobs and local communities are great examples of the solutions we want to support.”
Zetifi’s promise as productivity enabler for agriculture is well illustrated by the strong support and investor backing in this round from the Australian grains industry, with co-lead investment from GrainCorp, and additional investment from GrainInnnovate.
For GrainCorp, the investment is a fitting first step for their $30 million GrainCorp Ventures fund established in May.
“Connectivity is a key enabler for the advancement of modern agriculture,” GrainCorp CEO Robert Spurway said.
“Australian growers are early adopters of technological innovation on-farm, and it’s a credit to their resilient nature that they continue to lead the way on digital advancements,” he said.
“GrainCorp Ventures focuses on identifying and accelerating the next generation of technologies that will keep growers ahead of the competition, and that’s what we see in Zetifi.
“Many of the people at GrainCorp also live and work alongside growers and our customers in regional communities and experience connectivity issues firsthand, so partnering with Zetifi will help to unlock significant value for the agricultural sector.”
The GrainInnovate Fund – a partnership between the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Artesian – highlight similar reasons for increasing their investment.
GRDC Managing Director Nigel Hart said connectivity remains a major issue in rural and regional Australia and investment in new technology and solutions, through companies like Zetifi, was critical for the grains industry.
“GRDC is committed to investments that support or improve connectivity, because we know that precision agriculture is an integral part of grain farming and growers are utilising technology every day to improve on-farm production – from record keeping, to making informed, data driven decisions on things like Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning, input calculations and seed distribution,” he said.
“Increasing innovation depends on having a reliable connection on-farm so the work that companies such as Zetifi are doing is critical for the grains industry’s future.”
In the case of Jonathon Quigley from Cultiv8 Funds Management, who have also chosen to increase their investment in Zetifi, his confidence has been bolstered by his own first-hand experience with their products.
“Dan participated in our SparkLabs Cultiv8 startup accelerator in 2019 and as a trial I had the very first ZetiRover installed in my ute. The device has allowed me to stay connected throughout my regional travels using it for video conferences, phone calls, emails, messages, and even delivering my primary work internet service during COVID lockdowns,” said Jonathon.
For more information about Zetifi, visit https://zetifi.com
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INVESTOR FUND PROFILES
Telstra – Telstra is Australia’s leading telecommunications and technology company, offering a full range of communications services and competing in all telecommunications markets. It also has an international presence spanning more than 20 countries.
GrainCorp Venture Fund – GrainCorp Ventures is a $30 million corporate venture capital fund that focuses on investing in start-ups that help build a sustainable future for the Australian agriculture industry. GrainCorp seeks to invest minority stakes in early-stage seed to Series B opportunities across AgTech, animal nutrition and food innovation.
Cultiv8 Agriculture and Food Technology Fund – Cultiv8 Funds Management is a unique, sustainably focused Funds Group, investing and partnering with companies driving innovation in global agriculture and food. We take an active, collaborative approach to solve real problems, develop solutions to increase farm productivity, modernise supply chains and create novel high-value products. We believe that impact is achieved when opportunities are sustainably commercialised.
GrainInnovate (Grains Research and Development Corporation and Artesian) – GrainInnovate is a $50 million VC fund established by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Artesian to invest in startups to help drive the future profitability and sustainability of Australia’s grain growers.
Zetifi invites New York farmers and machinery dealers to trial innovative vehicle connectivity device
WAGGA WAGGA, AUSTRALIA – Nov. 28th, 2023 –Australian technology company Zetifi extends a unique opportunity to New York farmers and machinery dealers grappling with connectivity challenges. Through funding from Cornell University’s Grow-NY Food & Agriculture competition, Zetifi offers a no-cost trial of their innovative vehicle-mounted connectivity device – the ZetiRover.
Recognised with a US$500k prize in the 2020 Grow-NY competition, Zetifi aims to address Upstate New York’s connectivity hurdles and boost productivity and job creation in the region. The ZetiRover, renowned for its effectiveness in Australia, leverages powerful antennas and multi-carrier technology, merging coverage from multiple carriers to provide reliable Wi-Fi connectivity in areas where cellular phone service would otherwise be unavailable or unreliable. For the US trials, the ZetiRover will be configured to bring in faint coverage from AT&T and Verizon.
In addition, the ZetiRover constantly logs coverage data from both of these networks, generating custom coverage maps illustrating signal strength and other coverage metrics wherever the device has been deployed, empowering users with comprehensive data for informed decision-making.
The ZetiRover has become a trusted connectivity solution for farmers and agricultural service providers right across Australia. On the back of this success the company is looking to expand, with these New York trials being an important first step to gather coverage data and validate that the device can provide the same benefits to US customers.
Rob Lansdown, Commercial Manager at Zetifi, expressed excitement about the trial’s potential impact: “We invite farmers, machinery dealers, and those facing connectivity challenges to trial our innovative ZetiRover. This initiative not only provides access to leading-edge connectivity solutions but also aligns with the objectives of the Grow-NY team to stimulate economic growth and increase the productivity and profitability of the agricultural sector in New York.”
He added, “These trials serve as a crucial step in understanding the ZetiRover’s performance in Upstate New York’s unique conditions before planning a full-scale US market launch.”
Zetifi seeks proactive participants eager to explore the ZetiRover’s capabilities, offering valuable feedback during the trial phase. The company hopes to select five triallists across a range of locations and applications for the ZetiRover. Suitable triallists include individual farmers wanting to use the ZetiRover on their machinery or farm vehicles, or agricultural services companies wishing to trial the ZetiRover on their fleet vehicles to keep their staff connected and productive in more places.
Interested parties should contact Rob Lansdown at rob.lansdown@zetifi.com to express interest or gather more information about this unparalleled opportunity.
For more information about Zetifi, visit https://zetifi.com/
For more information about the ZetiRover, visit https://zetifi.com/zetirover
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Robert Lansdown
Commercial Manager, Zetifi
+61 2 5973 6613 | +61 448 044 866 | rob.lansdown@zetifi.com