Learn More About How Analytics Can Improve Your Driver Risk Management Program with this one-on-one interview with Bryon Cook, vice president, data mining and analytics at DriveCam Inc.
With the release of RiskPredict™, DriveCam firmly positions itself among the world's leading analytics companies. As the only company providing this level of value in the Driver Risk Management industry, we know you'll find this intense one-on-one interview interesting and eye-opening as Bryon Cook reveals his insight into this direction for the company.
Editor: First, why analytics?
BC: It's the future. Anyone can put a camera or black box in a vehicle. But understanding risky driving behavior is more than simply looking at an event. We need to help our clients understand their drivers, be able to differentiate between those who are risky drivers from those who are not. And then coach the drivers to improve their driving. With analytics, we can provide the information they need to improve their drivers' behavior, reduce their number of accidents and lower their insurance claims. Black box recorders simply can't provide this level of information and insight. You need the combination of both audio video and analytics.
Editor: What is analytics?
BC: It's different things to different people. The simplest definition is the science of analysis. To people in business, it's using statistical analysis to discover and understand historical patterns with an eye to predicting and improving business performance in the future. For DriveCam and Driver Risk Management, it's using our database of risky driving events to understand risky driving behavior and predict and improve driving performance in the future. Our event repository (the world's largest) has over 4 million event clips and is growing at a rate of 26,000 a day! In fact, we added 600,000 clips just in the month of October, alone.
Editor: Wow! What do you do with all of this data?
BC: Initially, we worked with Fair Isaac, the University of Michigan and the University of Iowa to process and analyze the data. We selected them because they're the leaders. Fair Isaac is the world leader in commercial applications of predictive analytics and the universities are two of the only three in the United States who do auto-related safety studies. Interestingly, we're now working with the third (Virginia Tech) on their latest highway safety studies. Working together with these leading scientists, we first created the algorithms that allow us to eliminate irrelevant data and optimize the duration and length of captured events. By doing this, we allow our clients to focus only on the riskiest driving behaviors, which in turn, improves their user experience and reduces their time and cost for managing the program. The result of this effort was RiskPredict, the first of many new releases you will see from DriveCam.
Editor: So what's next?
BC: DriveCam is an evolving company. We're strategically leveraging our analytic capabilities as we build out our data warehouse. By adding 10 million event clips to our data warehouse each year (going forward), we'll take the data and add our tools, knowledge and science to create a truly predictive environment. This is exactly in line with the five stages of analytical competition described in the white paper in this month's newsletter. I'd say that DriveCam, as a fast-moving company, is currently in the third stage and quickly moving into the fourth stage.
We continue to test the science necessary to create predictive analytics and to ensure we've crafted the right service for our clients. It's all about development to make our clients' lives easier. Long-term, we have the vision to be truly predictive and provide the tools (reports) to understand the behaviors most seen in collisions. It's a matter of determining what delineates the difference between two drivers – both with risky events, but one with more incidents than the other.
Editor: What are the challenges DriveCam faces as it moves from one stage of analytical development to the next:
BC: There are several. With so much data, we need to be able to weed out the wheat from the chaff and focus only on what's important to track. We also have to ensure the quality of our data. Just like having too many irrelevant events to review, we need to make sure we are only analyzing the relevant data. We then need to apply science to the data because we can't afford to guess. This is too important. In fact, that's exactly what we did when we determined that the optimum amount of time needed to consistently identify risky patterns of behavior is 12 seconds. Some companies may use more time, others less. But science has proven that 12 seconds is the optimum time to capture the core of a risky driving event. This is a new industry and this is an evolutionary process. I'd guess we're currently midway through the evolution. It's fun and exciting to be paving the way for future growth and progress.
Editor: That does sound exciting. Tell us a little about Bryon. Who he is and what brought him to DriveCam.
BC: Prior to DriveCam, I was with Mitchell International. I worked in the medical division where they sold claims and billing information software to insurance companies. This provided me with the opportunity to hone my knowledge of the actuarial world, where predictive analytics is key to the insurance industry. Prior to Mitchell, I was with HNC Software, which was later acquired by Fair Isaac. More analytics! I was intrigued and motivated by where DriveCam was and where it could be. Since I joined DriveCam, many other ex-HNC employees have joined us, which has reinforced the development of the analytics team. I'm also excited about other members of our team who have come from such great companies as Teradata, Qualcomm, Nokia, Perot Systems, Hewlett Packard and others. In addition, we've had the opportunity to join the Analytics Forum of the San Diego Software Industry Council, one of the leading communities in the field of analytics today.
Editor: So, it sounds like analytics is in your blood. What do you enjoy most about your job?
BC: The opportunity to grow the business. I love analysis and see how it can make a difference. What drives me is that I like to solve problems and this is an interesting problem to solve. Also, no one has ever done this before. We're paving the way for a new future and I like being part of that. In this position, I can make a huge impact on DriveCam and the Driver Risk Management industry.
Editor: Definitely sounds like you're the right man for the job, Bryon. And, it sounds like this is keeping you plenty busy. What do you do in your spare time? And if you weren't at DriveCam, what would you be doing?
BC: (laughs). I don't have any time! But, whatever time I do have, I spend it with my wife, Wendy, and our four-year-old daughter, Kelsey. They're the light of my life. And if I weren't at DriveCam, I'd love to teach high school math. Although it may not sound it, I'm truly a fun guy. Just ask my wife!