Geotab has partnered with Swinburne University of Technology to develop skills within Australia’s transport and technology sectors.
Australia is home to one of the largest road networks in the world, running through a variety of mild and harsh conditions and environments.
Moreover, 60 per cent of the network is unpaved, as stated by Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia. These combined elements can make transport difficult and dangerous for both drivers and fleet managers working to move freight around the country.
But these problems are also well-suited to the solutions of Geotab, whose involvement in the Australian transport sector spans decades. The Canadian company is a global leader in connected vehicle and asset management solutions. It boasts more than six million service subscriptions across more than 100,000 customers worldwide.
Geotab entered the Australian market in 2004, championing cutting-edge products and services prioritising driver safety, route and dispatching optimisation, compliance and asset management.
These tools provide a range of fleet owners and managers with insight into key areas such as driver fatigue, seat belt usage, harsh braking incidents and more. More recent efforts from the company have included incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into fleets to protect the safety of motorists traversing the country’s demanding roads.
Now, Geotab has partnered with Swinburne University of Technology to accelerate research, innovation, and skills development within Australia’s transport and technology sectors. For Swinburne, this is the latest in a series of extensive research programs into the world of transport – which has ranged from sustainable fuels to digitisation and safety upgrades.
The institution’s collaboration with Geotab aims to bridge the gap between academic research and industry application.
This will be achieved by establishing a physical hub where students can integrate their studies with relevant transport technology and research.
“The transport sector is at a crossroads for a lot of technological disruptions with AI and data,” says Hadi Ghaderi, Professor of Supply Chain Innovation and Decarbonisation at Swinburne. “If operators don’t adapt, they could fall behind. This technology is being used to solve issues around safety, vehicle connections, and more.
“We, with Geotab, have decided that we need to provide the industry with a platform to clearly address some of these problems and the tools being used to solve them. This is where the hub comes in.”
Ghaderi explains that the hub will be established on Swinburne’s campus in Hawthorn, Melbourne as a national centre for AI-enabled transport innovation, designed to fast-track learning and collaboration across transport data, telematics analysis and intelligent mobility systems. It will connect industry professionals, policymakers, and researchers to tackle real-world challenges in productivity, safety, and sustainability.
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Swinburne researchers will specifically gain access to Geotab’s global telematics platform, allowing them to use real-world data to address critical challenges in urban mobility, safety, and sustainability. This will build a direct pipeline of skilled graduates who are familiar with advanced telematics technology.
“Students have a number of options for development,” Ghaderi says. “We have PhD projects that are going to be funded by Geotab on a higher-tech and more advanced level.
“We also have students who are going to work and experiment on Geotab technologies on an undergraduate level. Geotab is also providing a lot of interesting data, resources, and hardware.”
Apart from direct learning programs, the hub’s operations will open doors for joint grant applications, guest lectures, and industry engagement activities such as roundtables and site visits. Ghaderi says these tools will all contribute to bolstering education in key sectors.
“Our goal is to support the next generation of talent in transport, technology and research,” he says.
Key to the hub’s success is the strong alignment between Geotab and Swinburne.
“The synergy between Geotab and Swinburne became clear through our shared industry memberships and a common network of industry partners,” says Alkan Ciftci, Business Development Manager – ANZ at Geotab.
“As a dual-sector institution, Swinburne offers a unique platform to engage talent across vocational, undergraduate, and postgraduate levels, ensuring our collaboration impacts the entire transport workforce.”
Additionally, Ciftci explains that while Geotab’s partnership with Swinburne is still nascent, it is already yielding practical solutions.
“In 2025, a student group earned the Capstone Project Award for developing a specialised heavy vehicle emissions reporting add-in for MyGeotab,” he says. “This tool will be available for free, providing immediate value to the sector.
“Looking ahead to 2026, we are actively developing new initiatives focused on video telematics, driver assistance, productivity, and decarbonisation, which we look forward to announcing later this year.”
This article was originally published in the June edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here
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