Shortly after Chadchart Sittipunt became Bangkok governor almost two months back, he encouraged Bangkokians to report issues in their area directly to authorities through “Traffy Fondue” — the channel which utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) technology to manage issues sent in to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).
Available through the Line messages app, the platform will help transform the way BMA tackles city residents’ problems as it immediately sorts out residents’ complaints by subject and forwards them directly to relevant regulators to resolve, the governor said.
Traffy Fondue was developed by Wasan Pattara-atikom — a mature researcher with the Nationwide Electronics and Software Centre (Nectec), under the National Science and Technology Development Agency — who by no means thought the platform will be this popular, this individual said in an job interview with the Bangkok Post.
WHAT EXACTLY IS TRAFFY FONDUE?
Traffy Fondue is a channel through which Bangkok residents may report problems in their area directly to the relevant agencies through the Line app.
We found this to be the most obtainable for Bangkok residents compared with other applications, as most people in the nation have it on their cell phones.
In order to report a problem, inhabitants won’t need to download another app — they can simply add @traffyfondue and submit their particular complaints immediately.
It was our own dream that many individuals would someday make use of our tool to report the city’s problems.
Bangkok is a huge city, and it would be impossible for authorities to be aware of every issue in all parts of the city. With input from the public, problems could be quickly identified and fixed, which will result in a more liveable city for all.
How did the woking platform came to be?
Traffy Fondue was created as a part of the Phuket Smart City project back in 2008. At that time, my team developed Traffy Fondue along with a platform called Traffy Waste to improve waste materials management, and Traffy Transit which provides open public bus information.
Four years back, we were told to select one platform to develop due to budget restrictions, so we chose Traffy Fondue because it is extremely scalable and it could be repurposed for different needs with near absolutely no cost. That way, any time a new organisation really wants to use Traffy Fondue, we can offer the provider to them right away.
Why did you name it Traffy Fondue?
Traffy comes from the word “traffic”, while Fondue is derived from the Thailänder word fongdu, which means “to report”.
We all wanted a smoother, more versatile name — we thought no one would utilize the platform for other purposes if it has been literally named “report traffic problem” — so we chose Traffy Fondue instead, as it still sounds like fongdu to a Thai speaker.
This is important because the station can be used for numerous other things, including pet registration, to demand tree trimming and also to report fire hydrant faults.
How does the platform work?
Right after adding Traffy Fondue’s Line ID, users can report issues in their areas, such as broken street bulbs, uneven footpaths or even flooded areas, right away. They can also follow-up on their report and check if the relevant party has taken any motion.
Making use of AI, the system will certainly sort out the complaints by topic and forward them to the kind of agencies. The platform matches geographic information stored in each complaint’s metadata to a map, which usually enables authorities in order to “see” where the is actually.
Who can use Traffy Fondue?
System can be used by anyone, including companies, factories, hospitals or colleges.
Our first private consumer which was Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate in Pathum Thani within September 2019.
Today, we now have more than 3, 000 organisations in the open public and private sectors that use Traffy Fondue, including City Hall.
Provides Traffy Fondue already been well-received by Bangkok residents?
Local residents understand their area greatest, as they are the types who walk the streets of the city they live in.
Since Mister Chadchart urged occupants to use the approach, the number of complaints all of us received jumped by 60 times, forcing us to increase our database ten times to date to be able to accommodate all the problems.
As of Thursday, City Corridor has received more than 102, 500 problems through Traffy Fondue, about 44% or even 45, 120 which have been resolved.
Over half the complaints are usually related to city facilities, such as roads, footpaths, street lighting plus utility cables, water damage, as well as waste selection.
A complaint generally requires about nine hours to resolve and about 80% of complainants had been satisfied with the services — drawing praise from Mr Chadchart, who expressed his confidence that the station will help expedite the delivery of general public services.
How do you want to more develop the platform?
I want to allow it to be even easier for people to report difficulties in their areas. Later on, there will be separate functions which will allow users to see the progress of the complaints without having to information the automated program, as well as add to reviews that are filed by other people.
I also want to see the channel used by private hospitals, schools, factories, condominiums, companies, municipalities or even tambon administrative companies in many provinces. The platform will streamline the procedure and improve their service delivery.
How much would it cost to adapt Traffy Fondue for some other purposes?
We do not cost for any services. It is a public service that will Nectec has supported since the start. Within this fiscal year, we received funding from the Broadcasting and Telecoms Research and Development Fund designed for Public Interest initially to continue the project.
Any organisation can inquire us if they wish to adapt Traffy Fondue. We also provide free of charge training and maintenance.
Presently, we are seeking volunteers to help further develop Traffy Fondue.
The volunteers do not have to have an THIS background, just a willing interest in the platform. They can contact traffy. in. th for more details.