INPRED: Intelligent prediction for package transport

Nimber (formerly Easybring) is a social delivery service where users may send packages using the free capacity of others. The service has rich historical data on packages and deliveries. The INPRED project is a cooperation between Nimber (formerly Easybring) and the research institute Norwegian Computing Center, and the project is financed by the Research Council of Norway. The goal of the project is to assist users of the service in estimating realistic prices and likely delivery times for packages they want to send. To do the estimates we will develop algorithms to analyze historical data from Nimber's service. We will also extend the functionality of the service so that it displays the results of algorithmic analysis to users.

Easybring currently provides an online service where users can post package transport assignments and where other individuals, carriers, can offer to transport the packages for a fee. Easybring accumulates data about users, carriers, and assignments ove r time. This results in a dynamically growing collection of complex data. The innovation idea is to apply machine learning and statistical methods to analyse and make predictions from the accumulated data to improve the Easybring service. With an intellig ent brokering mechanism, the Easybring service will be made more efficient and the service quality will be improved. Thus, the service will attract more users and open new market segments. The main innovation is in the form of a new service for predicti ng the properties of future delivery assignments. This service will be integrated into Easybring's existing service. Improved quality of service will yield higher customer satisfaction and attract new users. This will directly increase the Easybring use r base and the number of transported packages. The Norwegian Computing Center (Norsk Regnesentral, NR) is the research partner and will carry out the scientific research in the project. Easybring will be the main partner for development, and together Ea sybring and NR will realize the new service innovation.