The value of transport information

Information value has been mostly discussed in business and information economics. Now, due to the fast development of communication technologies, a new interesting field of research has emerged - transport telematics. The objectives of this research were to identify the attributes affecting the value of transport information, and to specify the valuation methods applied. This study also includes discussion on three case studies concerning transport telematics. A further objective was to identify the relevant information attributes and the feasible assessment methods for each case. The study was carried out at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland with co-funding from Tekes - the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. The first part of the study, a literature survey resulted in a general framework for information value assessment. This framework can be used when evaluating various transport information to analyse which information characteristics need to be taken into account, and which assessment methods should be applied. This framework can be presented in two tables, where the first one identifies the information quality attributes, and the second one attaches these to the appropriate value assessment methods in each case. The second part of the study deepens the first part by applying the general framework to real-life information by studying three transport information service cases on the basis of available data. In each case, the relevant information value characteristics are identified and the appropriate assessment methods specified. The case studies proved that the evaluation framework was useful for evaluating information value. The evaluation framework was created from the perspective of transport information. Hence, it is most suitable for evaluating the value of information provided by the transport service sector. In addition to the theoretical valuation of information, this framework can, however, be used as a basis for deeper and more detailed investigation, and also in research more empirical than the cases studied here. It is also likely, that the framework could be applied to other kinds of information, but in this case the valuator needs to carefully adapt the framework to suit the type of information in question.