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Will Ola and Microsoft joining hands transform how we travel?

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DailyBiteNov 07, 2017 | 20:05

Will Ola and Microsoft joining hands transform how we travel?

One of India's leading cab aggregators, Ola, on Tuesday (November 7, 2017) announced a strategic partnership with tech giant Microsoft for building a new connected vehicle platform for car manufacturers worldwide. Under the partnership, Ola will use Microsoft Azure cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and productivity tools to enhance rider and driver experience. 

OLA's CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, who joined Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadela at the India Today Conclave Next 2017, explained that the partnership will not only allow it to use these Microsoft's branded technology tools to help upgrade its connected car platform OLA Play, but also help it find solutions to issues at the drivers end by aiding in vehicle diagnostics, improved in-car productivity, advanced navigation, predictive maintenance of vehicles and more.

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Once up and running, the offering will be taken to car manufacturers globally by both Ola and Microsoft for integration with vehicle systems.

As explained in a Microsoft blog post, once the service is up and running, "Ola Play customers will be able to use productivity tools such as Office 365 and Skype for Business, as well as voice-assisted controls built using Microsoft Cognitive Services and Bot framework, in-car during their rides. The advanced telematics platform will transform the car into a high-performing, intelligent vehicle, capable of assessing fuel efficiency, engine performance, and driver performance. It will also enable smarter navigation and predict breakdowns, enhancing safety and security while creating new business models and opportunities."

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Need to change the paradigm of transport in India

As Aggarwal explained, at the heart of the Ola Play – world’s first connected car platform for ridesharing – and Microsoft's partnership is the need to change the paradigm of transport in India, which Ola's CEO said remains same as 20 years ago.

He said: "Mobility in India is very different from the west. We want to use technology to change the paradigm of transport in the country. Even though the cars today look sleeker than 20 years ago, at the base of it, they remain pretty much the same... With Ola Play, we have already set the tone for connected vehicles in India; together with Microsoft, we can make the new platform available to a larger, global audience and unlock futuristic experiences for customers worldwide."

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Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, echoed Ola's vision for the future. He said: 

“Today’s car is quickly becoming the ultimate computing device and together with Ola, we’re focused on providing more intelligent, connected and productive experiences to our customers,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “The combination of Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and our AI platform with Ola Play will deliver new customer experiences and business opportunities across the automotive ecosystem.”

Win-win for both Ola and Microsoft

The Ola Play platform is designed to "continually collect, analyse, and learn from high volumes of data and user behaviour", which will not only help the cab aggregator by bringing in superior safety, entertainment and advanced driver assistance services but also prove invaluable for Microsoft which is presently in the middle of enhancing the capabilities of its various machine learning based products. 

By joining hands with Ola, it will get access to a large number of users – many of them even new – which will help the tech giant collect important user data that it can then further use to improve its other products such as RUUH – a bot for India that uses AI and a deep learning neural network to interact with humans. 

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Additionally, there's also talk Microsoft investing $50-100 million (Rs320-640 crore) in Ola in the coming days. With today's announcement, the two look to have moved a step closer to finalising such a deal. 

 

Last updated: November 07, 2017 | 20:05
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