Good afternoon, Eugeniu. Royal Map is a suggestive name. It’s clear that the business is based on map. But then you can imagine thousands of options. Therefore, here is a question of substance. What is Royal Map dealing with?

We support companies and people who want to create some simple solutions as well as integrated geographical information systems, what is commonly called GIS (Geographic Information System), on the basis of map. We provide cartographic digital data for the telecommunications market, transport management, logistics, geo-marketing, navigation and... And I can name dozens of activities of modern people and businesses that need to be displayed on a digital map.

It’s clear, but not clear. More precisely, not clearly. I and the audience prefer specific terms. Can you provide an example to make it clear like to a five-year-old child?

I’ll try. Imagine that you are planning an urban transport scheme. The first level of the solution is to lay public transport lines on the map. But to understand whether they are optimally laid or not, you don’t have enough information. Now, take a layer with data on population density in districts of the city. Then another layer, with large shops. Then one more, for example, with educational institutions. When we put all these layers on each other, we’ll already see how public transport routes correspond to the social portrait of the city.

That is, in fact, you help to build information layers on the map either by yourself, or by order, isn’t it?

Absolutely right. If an example from cooking is appropriate, then each information layer is like a layer of cream or a cake layer. The whole map is a cake. Each customer can assemble a cake to its taste, and with those layers that it needs.

Yeah, so you’ve created a mapping platform and are preparing content for it, aren’t you?

Exactly. We have our own engine and for more than five years we’ve been accumulating various data that are related to the coordinates on the map. This is, in principle, a geocoding process. The prospect of this market is great. In the world, no more than 30% of the information that can be associated with maps is geocoded. So, the scope of activity is huge.

How do you replenish content?

We have a team that monitors a number of sources. These are open data of government agencies, news in the media (for example, Kaufland was opened), and automatic parsing of a number of sources on the Internet. The team already processes the data and ensures the creation and updating of the relevant information layers on the map.

Are there any solutions that a wide audience appeals to?

Yes, two projects with the MIA. In 2017, we started a social project on road accidents. We started with media reports and began to put accident points on the map. After 1 year, the Ministry joined the project and transmitted data on 7,500 road accidents that happened recently throughout the republic. Accordingly, when viewing the map, the driver can easily see the places with the highest concentration of road accidents and drive there very carefully.

After that, already on a contract basis, we prepared for the MIA the project “Harta Amenințărilor” (https://amenintari.politia.md) where citizens can report certain violations committed by car owners, such as parking in illegal places. This project is implemented with connection to the map of the place of violation.

At the beginning of the meeting, you said that your work with TomTom is closely connected to your work at Royal Map.

Yes, it’s a Dutch company, a supplier of devices for car and personal GPS navigation systems. The company began its activity in 1992 with the creation of a PND (Personal Navigation Device) with its own software and maps; it is also a software and card provider for several other manufacturers. When they came to our region, they needed a local expert to collect GIS information, up to the point that I got in a car with cameras, drove throughout the republic and collected information “on the spot”.

Eugeniu, and explain, the competition in the world of digital cards is huge, for example, I recently installed for me maps.me and was pretty well driving a week in an unknown country. Then what is the advantage of big players like TomTom?

The quality of solutions. Many projects use information from open resources that are generated by users and are not immune to errors. Another reason. For example, TomTom constantly analyzes traffic statistics. This makes it possible to gradually choose the optimal route between two points. And there are a lot of such trifles. As for the confirmation that such an operator as TomTom uses high-quality verified data, I can assure you from my own experience that Royal Map, under contract, is constantly engaged in updating information for TomTom. And as a regional representative of this company, not only in Moldova, but also in Romania, Ukraine and Turkey, I make sure that the company receives the most relevant map data.

You speak, and I have the impression that you’ve been dealing with GIS technologies for almost your whole life...

Almost. Fifteen years. I was a second- or third-year student at the Technical University, when lecturers began to teach us how to digitize a map. My diploma thesis was “electoral” GIS. I took two areas of the city, the layout of the polling stations and analyzed how close they were located to the optimal one. Then, I was teaching this discipline for seven years at the Technical University.

Now you still say that during your free time you collect old cards...

During my free time now, and especially in the past, I played the violin. I graduated from a music school with diplomas of winner of competitions. And when I was teaching at the Technical University, I was playing at night the violin in night clubs, at least on techno. By the way, it helped to remove the barrier of communication with students. It became much more funny and interesting for them to learn from someone that their lecturer was “playing the violin at the disco”, and especially when they personally met me at night and danced on my violin.

Do you play at night now too?

Now I play when I don’t disturb anyone. But I play. And love doing it.

Pavel Zingan