The Discovery Insure Vitality Drive Sensor wins at the MTN Business Internet of Things (IoT) Awards.

Discovery Insure’s innovative Vitality Drive Sensor which uses vehicle telematics to accurately track driving behaviour has won the Best Commercial IoT solution in the MTN Business Internet of Things (IoT) Awards.

The device is installed on the car’s windscreen and interacts with Discovery’s smartphone driving application to measure and reward users for good driving behaviour.

Ilan Ossin, Head of Telematics at Discovery Insure says: “We are thrilled with the win. The Vitality Drive programme has improved driver behaviour on South African roads considerably. We have been able to track that drivers who use the sensor have improved their driving behaviour by more than 15% in the first 30 days from the moment it is installed.”

Innovative solutions for road carnage

“We introduced our IoT solution for measuring driving behavior in 2015. The solution consists of a Vitality Drive Sensor which operates on a battery, is very small, attaches easily to the windscreen of the vehicle and interacts with our smartphone driving application,” says Ossin.

Discovery Insure rewards clients for driving well through its Vitality Drive programme. Vitality Drive depends on its vehicle telematics technology to accurately track driving behaviour. It has proven so successful, that Discovery Insure has piloted the concept in the Safe Travel to School programme for in-need learners in the Western Cape in conjunction with NGO-partner, ChildSafe.

“The device went through many years and iterations of engineering in collaboration with our technology partner Cambridge Mobile Telematics, to send the required high frequency data while conserving battery life, whilst obtaining a 3+ year lifespan for the device. This, all while the application provides real time trip updates and post-trip analysis so drivers can see how they have driven per trip and improve accordingly,” says Ossin.

The device measures harsh braking, harsh cornering, harsh acceleration, speeding and cellphone use, all of which have been found to contribute to road crashes.

“It also enables our ImpactAlert safety feature which is core to our Vitality Drive offering. This feature is saving lives everyday as we are able to automatically detect through the sensor and smartphone application when a vehicle is in an accident and reach out to our clients. If we are unable to get hold of the client, we can dispatch the relevant emergency services to the accident scene given the location we have from the combined IoT and smartphone solution,” says Ossin.

“While there are similar ‘app only’ telematics solutions which are relevant for certain applications, our patented solution was built with a BLE (Bluetooth low energy) IoT device so that we could overcome some of the short comings of app only solutions. “These include accurately detecting when a vehicle is in an accident; knowledge of whether the client is driving the specific insured asset and having less dependence on the phone and the sensors which may at times, be in awkward positions,” he adds.

Discovery Insure has also introduced this solution into fleets through its commercial insurance product, so fleets can now use the technology to actively reward their drivers weekly though the Vitality Drive program and improve a fleet’s overall performance.

The solution has collected more than 11 billion kilometres of driving data to date.

The MTN IoT Awards celebrate the major strides made in technology thanks to the Internet of Things. IoT is transforming businesses, industries and our everyday lives, so it is fitting that the awards not only reward success in the field, but also take a closer look at how we can adapt on a large scale to reap the benefits.