Connecting everything

On 25-26 August 2020, Nomad Digital attended SmartTransit’s first virtual event. The transit focused on agencies across Northern America, who were and still are facing challenges within the rail industry.

Nomad is offering all staff 2-days each year to volunteer their time, showing a commitment to really give back. "At Nomad we are passionate about making a difference in our local communities, nationally and globally – striving to make changes that count."

Business audits including, regulatory, compliance, internal, external and every other type of audit including inspection, have been thrust into becoming 'remote and virtual'.

Prior to the Onboard Data Centre, traditional train technology companies such as Nomad Digital have been installing connectivity hardware onboard. The problem is every application added to the train possesses similarities, whether this is obtaining its own hardware or discrete network - increasing the quantity of connectivity hardware on-board.

In the rail industry, the majority of equipment installed tends to have a long product lifecycle. Take for example your central Communications Control Unit (CCU), they will last up to 10 years on average and are considered to be a valuable asset, handling the communication between the train and shoreside infrastructure.

Thermal cameras can be an effective tool used worldwide to reignite the public transport industry, whilst fighting the spread of Covid-19. Measurements happen in real-time, no physical contact is needed, and data can be obtained from behind the scenes.

Maintenance within railway has evolved considerably, influenced by technology, globalisation and the awareness that we have limited resources.

WiFi has very quickly become an integral part of people’s daily lives. We’ve come to expect it at home, work and in public areas. We are used to being and staying connected and will rely on WiFi to do everyday tasks such as checking emails, finding directions and posting on social media

Whilst temporally stopping life as we know it, causing devastation on a personal and economic level, COVID19 has exposed a positive in the high value that good digital connectivity brings to our lives.

This temporary move towards home working has been accepted well but lest we forget that as humans in general, we enjoy the sociality of coming together and I don’t see this changing much going forwards and no doubt, as a workforce, I sense people will want to go from having to be apart, to wanting to be together again.