Meet Brede Dammen, the Newest Member of the MobilityData Board of Directors
MobilityData members voted in favor of expanding the three-person Board of Directors to include two more seats. After this, there were a number of candidates who contested for these two seats, with Brede Dammen (Entur, Norway) and Nina Kin (LA Metro, Los Angeles, USA) joining the Board.
We asked both our new Board members a few questions.
We have Brede Dammen!
Brede works as a product owner at Entur AS. His work focuses on customer needs in an open data, open standards, and open source approach. He has worked in the public transport sector for the last two decades. The previous seven years have been on issues relating to open source within the transport and mobility industry, both in Norway and Internationally.
He challenges legislation and politics to help make high-quality and enhance the richness of data. Most important, making the data open so the citizens can find relevant and correct information before, under, and after a trip. He is also an expert in CEN and the Transmodel-based standards NeTEx and SIRI.
Together with the team, he has led the development of OpenTripPlanner 2.x in close collaboration with the community. Proven that collaboration across continents on an open-source project can support different standards, they seek further international cooperation on the ecosystem to produce, validate and share data and APIs. All in the interest of the travelers.
He is based in Norway.
Tell me a little more about yourself
I am passionate about collaboration to develop services that play together in an ecosystem, to make it easier for travelers to find information about environmentally friendly travel. When using public funds, sharing data and source code makes sense. We all try to solve the same challenges.
Why did you want to join the board?
By using open standards, we at Entur have proven that it is possible to collaborate across continents. I want to use my experience to contribute to MobilityData’s success in getting the entire sector to move in a common direction by developing services that work together.
What are you most excited about being on the board?
I hope to contribute to MobilityData and its partners to take an extra step towards a more open sharing of data and technology and create the best solutions for those who travel.
What experiences do you bring to the board?
I actively participate in standardization in ISO and CEN. It has proven that by building good scalable services based on standards, we can make good services together and gain synergies. Also actively participates in standardization through MobilityData. We should work to reduce and remove the barriers between different standards so that we can increase the flow and speed of the transition.
What is something you love about MobilityData?
There are several things, the most important being openness, friendliness, and an active community. There is room to ask questions, and help is only a question away. The way the standards are evolving, flexible and efficient, where we can develop software with agile methods in parallel.
What has been your most memorable transit / shared mobility experience?
Not a trip I made myself, but I contributed to it going well. Many years ago, I worked on printing a “phone book” with timetables for the whole of Norway. A rock music band used it to plan a concert on an island, and the audience and band came over. An error in the timetable led to the instruments and equipment being left on the mainland. We got a phone call in the evening and managed to get hold of someone who could take it to the island. In the next book, we made an advertisement for the band and apologized for the inconvenience. Lessons learned, accurate and updated open data are crucial.
What is your favorite form of transportation?
Cycling is my favorite. I cycle 34 km daily to the office and make many trips on country roads and in the forest as exercise. We have changed to electric cars and travel by public transport when suitable.
Thank you Brede! We are happy to welcome you into the MobilityData community.
You can read our interview with Nina Kin, our other newest Board member, here.
