Qasim Rana and Farhan A. Rahman discuss how GObd facilitates efficiency.
The residents of Bangladesh’s concrete jungles are no strangers to the plights of traffic congestion. Given the high number of vehicles on our roads, it’s no surprise to see them making their way to their respective destinations at a snail’s pace through the meandering passages in our ever growing cities. Traffic is a major source of frustration leading to the loss of essential time and energy. As such, any information regarding the level of congestion on different roads in the country would help people plan in advance saving them from the unforgiving heat and blaring horns of countless cars, buses and trucks. This is exactly what GObd aims to do with their app GO! Traffic.
After journeying through the busy streets of Banani, ICE Business Times met with Qasim and Farhan at their office to discuss how their venture is efficiently reducing the tedium of people’s day to day commutes.
Reminiscing about how this project came into fruition when he returned to Bangladesh in 2014, Qasim stated, “At that time, Farhan approached me with an idea and explained that commuting to work was one of his biggest problems on a daily basis. When he left the house he would be perplexed about which route to take to work because a wrong decision would add 30 to 45 minutes to his commute.” They pondered over the horrific conditions of Dhaka’s roads and decided that something needed to be done to ease the miseries of the everyday traveler.“We don’t think we can solve traffic but we can help solve the problem of the lack of information regarding traffic conditions. Our app gives people real-time traffic information which can help them circumvent it,” the Co-Founder is hopeful.
“Prateek was sort of the brains behind everything, so he took whatever we asked him to make and turned it into matrix language which makes him kind of our Neo,” Qasim jokes. Their service is getting a lot of traction now with the app having over two hundred thousand monthly active users across all platforms. “We deliberately seeded our own data into the app and then we made partnerships to get additional data. At present, we’re just continually growing what we’re offering with this data. We’re currently working on some large contracts which includes a public transport contract with UNDP and BRTC which allowed us integrate bus routes from Motijheel to Abdullahpur into Go! Traffic. This helps users track where their bus is and how long it’s going to take it to reach a certain destination,” he shares.
The app is currently only available for Dhaka users but the team hopes to release it in other areas soon. In regards to the delay, Farhan explains, “We actually already have coverage of other areas in Bangladesh. It’s taking some time as we use our own mapping infrastructure. What you’re seeing on the app is a Google Maps front but at the back it’s all our own material. Due to this it’s taking some time for us to refine the Sylhet, Chittagong and Barisal maps.” Around 80% of the process along with connecting the cities with the major highways has already been finalized so the app should be available to users in other major cities shortly.
Although Go! Traffic is slowly finding a foothold in Bangladesh; people in most countries abroad use Google Traffic which is a feature on Google Maps. It also displays traffic conditions in real time on major roads and highways. When asked about how Go! Traffic is different; Qasim answers, “Google has a very different way of approaching how they analyze traffic information. They ping from user’s devices which can drain their batteries and use up internet data. With Go! Traffic, we aggregate our data from other sources which add up to being about tens of thousands of points of data per day, and then use this data to create a picture of traffic.”
The team is keen to work with organizations and entities that would benefit from a data-driven approach to optimizing operations, which previously was unthinkable in a place like Bangladesh. Dhaka’s streets are vastly different from those in even moderately developed countries which is why Google’s Traffic app does not work here. Farhan postulates, “Go! Traffic was built as a solution around the realities in Bangladesh. When you look at a street in Dhaka, it does not compare in any way to a street in London or New York or San Francisco where tools like Google Traffic work. Our innovation is reliant on the fact that we’ve tailored our algorithm and intelligence to factor in anomalies like multi-factored vehicles, motorized or non-motorized traffic, etc.”
However, Google at some point in the future could come to Bangladesh to create a localized version of their product. In such a case, GObd hopes that they would be able to collaborate with them, similar to how Google has collaborated with local entities in other nations like Singapore. “We’re in a position where we have already established how we aggregate our data here. We would hope that if an organization like Google comes to Bangladesh, they would at least look to work with us first. We would open our doors for an opportunity like that as it would allow a level of knowledge sharing which would be beneficial for both parties,” states Qasim.
Although it has only been a year since they launched GO! Traffic, the trio is already rolling out their next product, GO! Fetch. Qasim, Farhan and Prateek knew they were helping people solve a problem but they were also accumulating a tremendous amount of critical data. They realized this data could be essential in optimizing logistics for public transport, ride sharing and service delivery businesses. “GO! Fetch is a third party logistics platform connecting businesses with users to offer their customers a better level of service. We started GO! Fetch as a pilot project just to see how it fares with very little marketing. Right now we’re taking that pilot and working with different entities to see how we can scale it,” Farhan reveals.
What sets Go! Fetch apart from its traditional counterparts is that it has a mountain of traffic data which allows it to optimize service delivery for both clients and other businesses. Farhan justifies this,“To a certain degree, we see ourselves as facilitators. We’re facilitating efficiency, not just for people but for businesses as well.”
Go! Traffic is already receiving a lot of positive attention and with Go! Fetch still in its pilot phase, the GObd team will undoubtedly develop more innovations in the future. As our conversation came to an end Farhan acknowledges, “Right now, we’re looking at refining our current services but we have had a few informal discussions about how to move forward with new ideas. We might send rickshaws to space in the future and call it Go! Space!” Whatever their future endeavor is, for the GObd team, the sky is the limit (quite literally, if those remarks are to be taken seriously).
The GObd triumvirate comprises of CEO & Co-Founder, Qasim Rana; COO & Co-Founder, Farhan A. Rahman and CTO & Co-Founder, Swagata Prateek
Before coming back to Bangladesh and starting GObd, Qasim Rana worked as the Vice President of Business Development at Inmarsat, one of the world’s leading Satellite Telecommunications companies based in the U.S. With over thirteen years of experience in the field of global telecommunications and information technology, Qasim’s comfortable grasp of technical and business issues allows the company to set realistic goals for all its ventures.
GObd’s CTO, Swagata Prateek is a recognized expert in Windows Platform Development. He is one of the youngest Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Awardees from Bangladesh, and one of the key architects of the Bus Map Dhaka app for Windows Phone.
As their COO, Farhan A. Rahman uses his people driven managerial style to help operations move along smoothly. His methods have earned him the affectionate work nickname, “Yelling Boss” among the GObd team. With over five years of experience in Asset Management, Business Development & Management Consulting, Farhan specializes in managerial capacity building, strategy and business development.
