IIT Madras researchers to develop great data driven strategies

IIT Madras researchers are developing data-driven strategies to enhance road safety in Tamil Nadu. A one day workshop was also organized towards this on developing an action plan.

Center of Excellence for Human Factors and Safety Science @ RBG Labs at IIT Madras organized the workshop in coordination with National Health Mission.

Various stakeholders who are involved in road safety like police, health units, transport units, road owning agencies, education units, rural development units and local self government took part in the workshop that was conducted at IIT Madras Research Park, say IIT Madras researchers.

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IIT Madras researchers further said, the key outcomes of this workshop are:

Ø Clear long term policies and strategies for moving towards an ‘accident-free Tamil Nadu’

Ø Short term strategies to improve road safety and minimize road traffic accidents during the next 3 months (November 2021 to January 2022)

Ø Action Points and Key Performance Indicators for each of the Stakeholder Departments, including Health, Police, Road owning agencies, Transport, Education and Local Bodies.

Ø Modalities for sharing and utilizing the data available with Stakeholder departments for collective action in ensuring road safety.

For example, Grid Analysis data available with Health Departments shall be used for enforcement, preventive action awareness creation, among others, by the stakeholder departments concerned.

The outcomes of this workshop will be used to help a focused action plan and be used as a policy advisory to help reduce road accidents and fatalities in Tamil Nadu, say IIT Madras researchers.

Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma. Subramanian speaking at workshop said this workshop is the first of many such design-thinking based strategizing workshops for road safety.

This coordinated knowledge sharing session among all the road safety stakeholders in Tamil Nadu will be a pathway to continuously evolve successful road safety policies in the State, he said.

Professor Venkatesh Balasubramanian, faculty-in-charge at Center of Excellence for Human Factors and Safety Science @ RBG Labs at IIT Madras said avoiding accidents and fatalities is an essential requirement to be a developed nation.

Roads are shared assets and the safety on them is a collective responsibility of all the stakeholders, he said. He further said they have been advocating a data-driven systems approach to road safety through their Transportation Safety Framework (TSF) to have a holistic improvement.

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While Tamil Nadu has been performing well on reducing the fatalities from road accidents, in 2021, after the lockdown there has been a steady increase in fatality. ‘Therefore, it is quintessential to develop a good strategy based on data to address this on a priority basis.’

It is, therefore, necessary to have a design thinking approach to solve the problem by not just identifying the issues but implementing changes that are sustainable in the local conditions, he said.

In 2020, Tamil Nadu became the first State in India and globally, the only administered territory to have achieved a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target of reducing deaths due to road accidents by 50 per cent.
However, there has been a steady increase in the number of road fatalities in 2021, say sources from IIT Madras.

Professor Ravindra Gettu, Dean (Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research) at IIT Madras said the action plan that has been drawn up is expected to make a significant impact on fatalities and road safety in general, especially due to the involvement of all stakeholders concerned through this design thinking approach.

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To curb the seasonal peak traffic crashes in the fourth quarter of 2021, a strategic team of TN stakeholders involved in road safety were identified to prepare a strategic short-term and long-term action plan for improving road safety in the State, say IIT Madras researchers.

The RBG Labs at IIT Madras conducts Research on four major streams under Innovation and Lean Operations, Medical Devices and Implants, Public Policy Initiatives and Human Factors in Transportation.

The primary focus was on working on various problems of disruptive innovations in product and process developments.

Members are actively involved in working with police and health departments of multiple States to develop innovative applications, products and process to improve the transportation safety systems of the State.

About IIT Madras

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) was established in 1959 by the Government of India as an ‘Institute of National Importance.’

The activities of the Institute in various fields of Science and Technology are carried out in 16 academic departments and several advanced interdisciplinary research academic centres.

The Institute offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes leading to B.Tech., M.Sc., M.B.A., M.Tech., M.S., and Ph.D., degrees in a variety of specialisations.

IITM is a residential institute with more than 600 faculty and 9,500 students. Students from 18 countries are enrolled here. IITM fosters an active entrepreneurial culture with strong curricular support and through the IITM Incubation Cell.

IITM has been ranked No.1 in the ‘Overall’ Category for the third consecutive year in India Ranking 2021 released by National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Education, Government of India.

The Institute has also been ranked No.1 in the ‘Engineering Institutions’ category in the same Rankings for six consecutive years – from 2016 to 2021.

It was also adjudged as the ‘Top innovative Institution’ in the country in Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) in 2019 and 2020. ARIIA Ranking was launched by the Innovation Cell of Ministry of Education.

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