Connectedgreen enters into a sustainable collaboration with Curious Inc.

Smart moisture sensors will optimize data-driven fleet management.

Curious Inc. is a company specializing in the mobility and logistics market with data and telematics solutions. They develop software to support sustainable and efficient fleet management. On December 8th, they entered into a collaboration with ConnectedGreen, a specialist in sensor technology. The goal of the partnership is to perfect data-driven work processes, such as municipal green and gray maintenance, to achieve ultimate transparency and efficiency.

Author: Jeroen Poldermans

“You don’t want green and gray to each have their own sensors, applications, and workflow support. What we want is to have one integrated environment for route optimization, and green and gray management to be part of that.” Those “we” are René Voogt (founder/owner of ConnectedGreen) and Hans Schaap (founder/owner of Curious Inc.). Data-driven work is the future, so this collaboration may be the turnkey solution that municipalities and green companies have been looking for. What does this sustainable partnership entail?

“Green maintenance is not an isolated work process for a municipality.”

More than just a collaboration

The agreement is more than just a collaboration. It means the full integration of both systems to optimize data-driven workflow support. On one hand, Curious Inc.’s asset management software is enhanced with the data, domain knowledge, and customer knowledge of ConnectedGreen. On the other hand, users of the ConnectedGreen platform are connected to efficient asset and fleet management applications. It’s an ideal match because organizations that work with the ConnectedGreen platform generally manage a fleet, and Curious Inc. develops applications for more efficient vehicle usage and route optimization. The best of both worlds.

“Green maintenance is not an isolated work process for a municipality but is usually combined with other tasks, such as emptying trash cans. Curious Inc. has already developed an application for gray maintenance, which is being used in several cities. The integration with sensor technology that drives green maintenance is a logical and possibly crucial expansion of both portfolios. The collaboration is not only sustainable but also serves a common sustainable goal, as the enhanced expertise results in significant fuel savings.

Enschede municipality as a pilot

Curious Inc. comprises three business initiatives with their respective applications. One of them is Grybb, which takes care of gray management planning for the Enschede municipality down to the last detail. “Do you also happen to manage trees alongside the gray assets?” With this question from the Enschede municipality in mind, Schaap sought a company dealing with green matters. “That’s how I got in touch with René Voogt, and the first collaboration started as a pilot project in Enschede,” says Schaap. Enschede had already purchased sensors from ConnectedGreen, and Schaap and his team facilitated their implementation and integration with the asset management software. “This pilot was a great success, and we’re now planning expansions. That’s when we started thinking about a follow-up, which has now been officially sealed with a contract,” adds Voogt.

The importance of sensor technology

The moisture sensors measure the moisture levels at root level and provide information on whether young trees and/or plants need water. This information is collected in the ConnectedGreen platform and serves as the basis for:

• More efficient routing, resulting in savings on fuel, water, personnel, and equipment.
• Transparency in work processes. Invoicing becomes more transparent thanks to the data input.
• Reduction in losses of green assets.
• Accountability for municipal tax funds to the citizens.

We had a wet summer in 2021. Were the moisture sensors still useful?

“That is a logical question, and the answer is: yes! Even in wet conditions, the moisture sensors are valuable. Our intuition tells us that watering is unnecessary, and the sensors confirm that, resulting in savings. Especially this year, with all the rainfall, a significant amount of money was saved due to the consistent information. For a municipality, it is important to remove any uncertainties regarding the necessity of irrigation. With a shortage of personnel, you don’t want people to spend time checking whether a tree actually needs water or to provide water when it’s not necessary,” explains Voogt. Schaap adds, “A colleague mentioned that he was able to reduce tree losses with the sensors. Tree losses incur significant costs due to the failure of the tree to establish, as well as the expenses associated with the history of such a tree. These costs have increased considerably in recent years due to the growing volume, labor costs, and logistics involved in tree management.

Curious Inc.: From Student Startup to Niche Market Leader

During his technical studies, Hans Schaap focused on sensor technology to measure a wide range of variables, from air temperature to humidity. It was during this period that he developed an interest in the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT consists of physical objects, such as cars, household appliances, and wearables, that are connected to the internet and can transmit data online. After completing his studies, he founded his startup company, GreenStar Logistics, which applied IoT in the field of mobility and logistics. This led to the idea of developing data-driven workflow solutions for the mobility market. One of these sustainable mobility concepts was the Driving Behavior Coach. The first application created by GreenStar Logistics was called Dation, focusing on driving schools. As a result, they became the market leader in this niche in the Netherlands and Belgium. Their second successful application is YesHugo, which provides support for thousands of vehicles through trip registration, track-and-trace, and vehicle movements. The third application is the previously mentioned asset management application, Grybb. Eventually, GreenStar Logistics grew into Curious Inc.

“Sustainability has been the core idea behind all our applications from the beginning.”

Sustainability as the Core Idea

“Sustainability has been the core idea behind all our applications from the beginning,” Schaap continues. “The Driving Behavior Coach module, for example, was specifically designed to save fuel. Another example is the Mobility Battle we organized in collaboration with the Province of Overijssel under the YesHugo banner. Companies and organizations from Overijssel received a year of driving behavior coaching and then competed against each other. Participants had to save as much fuel as possible and avoid rush hour traffic. They could earn points by accelerating and braking less forcefully, traveling outside peak hours, or not using their cars at all. I can provide more examples, but the important point is that our philosophy of sustainability and our expertise in telematics and mobility align seamlessly with the vision and core business of our partner, ConnectedGreen. I believe that we are currently the only ones who can offer the entire spectrum of data-driven workflow solutions for both gray and green management.”