Ofo introduces geofencing capabilities to control parking for its shared bikes in Singapore

Ofo, the bike-sharing company, has announced updates to its geofencing technology. Developed in-house, the Noah geofencing platform will help encourage users to park at preferred parking zones. The feature creates a virtual boundary that will be able to detect whether users have ended their rides within the geofenced area, also known as the preferred parking zone. Users who park within the preferred parking zones will be rewarded with one extra credit in their app.

The move is in line with guidelines set out in an agreement announced earlier this month among the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore, all five bike-sharing operators, the National Parks Board and all 16 town councils, ofo said.

To date, ofo has geotagged 1,400 locations across Singapore primarily around bus stops, MRT stations, and under HDB blocks. It is set to geotag up to 2,000 of these preferred parking zones so that they show up with a ‘P’ sign on the mobile application that is required to operate an ofo bike. Noah is able to detect if ofo bikes with Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled smart locks are parked within one of the 1,400 preferred parking zones.

"The true differentiator lies in our rewards system, which helps inculcate long-term, positive riding habits in our users,” said Alan Jiang, ofo’s latest hire as Regional GM, Southeast Asia. The company will be introducing an incentive programme that allows users to exchange their credits for a reward at selected merchants at the later stages of implementation.

The company is gradually replacing the old bikes with mechanical locks in order to make way for greater effectiveness when dealing with errant parking. In September, ofo announced that its latest fleet of bikes have GPS-enabled locks that are certified safe by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) Singapore. At the time, ofo said that it is the first and only bike sharing company that has filed for and received this machine-to-machine (M2M) certification in compliance with the Telecommunications Act.

Each GPS-enabled lock contains a SIM card which allows users to easily locate and unlock the bike. While a GPS-enabled lock increases location accuracy, allowing users to find and use the bikes easily, an uncertified lock brings with it a host of cybersecurity threats, ofo explained.

A girl scans the QR code at a street corner in Shenzhen, China to unlock an ofo bike ride.

More shared service facilities for MSMEs in the Philippines

Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. will intensify the department’s efforts to establish more shared service facilities (SSFs) that benefit cooperatives and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

SSFs improve competitiveness of MSMEs by providing machinery, equipment, tools, systems, skills and knowledge under a shared system. DTI partners with various government agencies, non government and international organisations, cooperatives, and local government units to acquire and maintain SSFs.

President Benigno Aquino III personally led the handover of P15.6 million worth of SSF projects to at least 23 cooperatives in Dagupan City recently, the DTI has disclosed. There are now 49 SSFs in Dagupan benefiting local entrepreneurs in fish and meat processing, bamboo production, metal craft, candle making, vinegar processing, dried fish processing, among others.

“These initiatives are geared towards identifying and addressing supply chain gaps. By providing technical and institutional capacity building to MSMEs nationwide, we sustain the gains we have achieved in recent years to increase competitiveness and enable our entrepreneurs to access regional and global markets,” Cristobal said.

Since the SSF programme started in 2013, 1,702 SSF projects have been set up, worth P776.53 million—with at least 17,095 entrepreneurs and 72,619 potential small businessmen benefitting from it. These SSFs, located nationwide, aim to improve the quality of products and productivity of entrepreneurs. According to Cristobal, the DTI targets to establish at least 200 more SSFs by June and at least 400 SSFs by year-end 2016.