Rekor Subsidiary Waycare collaborates with Volvo Cars for AI-enabled Crash Prediction

Company’s technology to be piloted as part of research project with the Swedish Transport Administration and Gothenburg Traffic Management Center

Rekor Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: REKR) ("Rekor" or the “Company”), a global AI technology company with a mission to provide intelligent infrastructure and insights that build safer, smarter and more efficient cities around the world through intelligent infrastructure, today announced that its Waycare subsidiary has been selected for a strategic research initiative by Volvo Cars to ascertain how artificial intelligence can be used to enable predictive awareness in a smart city context. This marks the first deployment in Europe for the company’s crash prediction technology.

The six-month pilot test, beginning in October 2021, involves the Waycare technology being used for AI-based crash prediction in Volvo Cars’ hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars is leading the research project for Drive Sweden’s AI Aware program, which investigates and tests central traffic control that supports connected and automated vehicles. The test will be performed in conjunction with the Swedish Transport Administration (STA) and the Gothenburg Traffic Management Center (TMC).

Through the pilot, agencies will have access to the Company’s cloud-based platform to view and manage roadway incidents, traffic hazards, zones at risk, and more. The platform incorporates data from a variety of sources, including anonymized data from Volvo Cars’ Hazard Light Alert and Slippery Road Alert technologies, in addition to navigation apps, physical infrastructure, and anonymized connected vehicle data.

“Rekor’s mission is to build smarter, safer and more efficient cities by building intelligence into the very infrastructure on which cities rely,” said Robert A. Berman, CEO, Rekor. “Our crash prediction technology and traffic data has been shown to reduce crashes by up to 18% when paired with proactive police presence and other measures, and we are excited to help Gothenburg and Sweden better understand how AI-enabled insights from connected vehicles can provide significant benefits including more efficient use of public funding and improved safety for drivers.”

After this technology pilot concludes, Drive Sweden, STA and TMC will analyze insights to help agencies with future infrastructure and public safety planning.

“At Volvo Cars, we believe that sharing real-time safety data between cars can help avoid accidents,” said Mats Moberg, head of R&D at Volvo Cars. “Guided by our long-term aim to achieve zero collisions, we are glad to invite our partner Waycare to join us in the ongoing research program AI Aware in Sweden to further explore how we can make roads safer for all.”

Drive Sweden is a Strategic Innovation Program that creates an ecosystem for all mobility stakeholders to work together to develop and pilot sustainable, connected and automated transport solutions.

“This project will help us develop future scenarios where connected vehicle data from private companies may be used to help cities become smarter, safer and more sustainable,” said Jan Hellåker, Chairman, Drive Sweden. “We appreciate Volvo Cars leading this research project and Waycare for allowing its technology to be used for this important effort.”

Waycare has been partnering with Volvo Cars since late 2020 to incorporate anonymized data related to the activation of hazard lights and the potential presence of slippery roads into its own algorithms. By leveraging real-time insights from Volvo cars to alert other drivers of upcoming road hazards, Waycare and Volvo Cars aim to improve road safety.

On October 11, Rekor’s Noam Maital and Volvo Cars’ Martin Ivarson will participate in a panel session at the start of the 2021 ITS World Congress event in Hamburg, Germany. The panelists will join Dr. Shawn Wilson of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to examine the capabilities and recent advancements in using vehicle connectivity and safety data for hazard identification.

About Rekor Systems

Rekor Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: REKR) is a trusted global authority on intelligent infrastructure providing innovative solutions that drive the world to be safer, smarter and more efficient. As a provider of comprehensive, continuous and real-time roadway intelligence, Rekor leverages AI, machine learning and holistic data to support the intelligent infrastructure that is essential for smart mobility. With its disruptive technology the Company delivers integrated solutions, actionable insights and predictions that increase roadway safety.