Home » Archives for June 2016

Finally launched! 1,000 ‘smart’ sensors to monitor high street footfall

The Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) in collaboration with the Local Data Company (LDC), hosted the launch event for the SmartStreetSensor project at University College London (UCL) on 30 June 2016.

The SmartStreetSensor project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), is the most comprehensive study of footfall patterns across Great Britain to date. Some 1,000 sensors will now measure live footfall in 81 towns and cities across the UK. In the pipeline for 18 months, the launch garnered significant publicity across social and traditional media channels and was therefore launched amidst a lot of anticipation, with a select number of attendees from across the retail, academic and media sectors.

The event kicked off with an introduction to the CDRC by our Director, Prof Paul Longley, who asked delegates to think about what is happening across our towns and cities and why this now forms a crucial part of the big data debate. Matthew Hopkinson, Director of the LDC, then discussed how the project aims to have “real people delivering real data”, which was crucial to conducting an evidence based analysis of footfall across Britain.

Our researchers Jens Kandt and Roberto Murcio, along with Phd student Bala Soundararaj, gave the final presentation, discussing ways in which they intend to conduct the research and identifying the types of challenges a project of this nature may pose, explaining how they aim to overcome these.

The closing session involved a spirited question and answer session; attendees were particularly keen to learn about the nuances of the project, including who stands to benefit from the types of data generated.

For a full account of the project, how it will work and why we are pursuing it – access our joint press release.

 

Paul presenting
CDRC Director, Prof Paul Longley, delivering the opening talk at the launch event for the SmartStreetSensor project

 

Presenters
Presenters at the SmartStreetSensor project launch. From L: Bala Soundararaj (CDRC), Jens Kandt (CDRC), Matthew Hopkinson (LDC), Paul Longley (CDRC) and Roberto Murcio (CDRC)

 

Matthew in discussion with attendees
LDC Director Matthew Hopkinson (far L) in discussion with attendees at the launch of the SmartStreetSensor project

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CDRC, LDC and UCL collaborate to explore High Street footfall patterns

On 30 June 2016 we will officially launch the SmartStreetSensor Project in a partnership with the Local Data Company and University College London (UCL), with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

The SmartStreetSensor Project is the most comprehensive study of High Street footfall patterns across Great Britain to date. It will allow us to understand how our high streets are used, how they are changing and what actually impacts footfall patterns.

We are launching this initiative to build on our detailed knowledge of how retail places are changing by combining this with footfall traffic patterns. By doing this, it will provide the most accurate picture of the relationship between places and people and what determines their success. This is the holy grail for retailers and landlords alike.

Official press release due shortly. For further enquiries contact marketing@localdatacompany.com or info@cdrc.ac.uk.

 

CDRC featured in the DPC report on ‘Preserving Transactional Data’

A case study of our Output Area Classification Data has featured in a report by The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC). Titled ‘Preserving Transactional Data’ the reports are commissioned after consultation among DPC members about shared priorities and challenges in digital preservation, are commissioned from experts and are thoroughly scrutinized by peers before being released. The authors are asked to provide reports that are informed, current, concise and balanced and that lower the barriers to participation in digital preservation.

The reports are a distinctive and lasting contribution to the dissemination of good practice in digital preservation.  The Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) inputs were provided by our Project Manager, Sarah Sheppard, and Deputy Director, Alex Singleton.

The report is published by the DPC in association with Charles Beagrie Ltd. Neil Beagrie, Director of Consultancy at Charles Beagrie Ltd, was commissioned to act as principal investigator for, and managing editor of, this Series in 2011. He has been further supported by an Editorial Board drawn from DPC members and peer reviewers who comment on text prior to release: William Kilbride (Chair), Janet Delve (University of Portsmouth), Marc Fresko (Inforesight), Sarah Higgins (University of Aberystwyth), Tim Keefe (Trinity College Dublin), and Dave Thompson (Wellcome Library).

To access the full report. 

James Cheshire on ‘The power of maps with R’

Our UCL based Deputy Director, James Cheshire, spoke at the Earl Conference 2015 on ‘The power of maps with R’. Organised by Mango Solutions the EARL is an exciting, cross-sector conference dedicated to the real business usage of R, where two days are devoted to the most innovative R implementations by the world’s leading practitioners.

James’ video presentation is now available to view, where he provides a fascinating insight into the world of making maps with R and the creation of his book ‘London: The Information Capital’.

Why monitor footfall? CDRC co-host hackathon to explore

The CDRC, along with Shop Direct, Sea Level Research, the Local Data Company (LDC) and Red Ninja Studios successfully hosted a hackathon in Liverpool on Saturday 4 June.

The hackathon theme was ‘Why monitor footfall’, with the LDC making available footfall test data for Market Harborough via the CDRC’s datastore. This data was obtained using 12 footfall sensors situated in the town centre.

With approximately 40 hackers in attendance, the day kicked off with breakfast and a networking session. This was followed by introductions from Simon Holgate, CEO and founder of Sea Level Research, Alex Singleton, Deputy Director of CDRC and Matthew Doubleday, Head of Data Science at Shop Direct.

The day was facilitated by Nadina Osmani and Adam Kenyani of Red Ninja, who allocated the hackathon teams with representatives from local universities, Shop Direct, Sea Level Research, Red Ninja and local ML AI enthusiasts. The hackathon kicked off in full swing, with a brief break for pizzas, before the hackers continued.

Winners were announced in the final session, judged by Lee Omar, CEO of Red Ninja. The winning team (pictured below, with Alex) were selected on their ability to provide unique insight to the footfall data by linking in with other available datasets. Their team work skills’ were also highly appreciated.

The winning team were presented with individual trophies from Red Ninja along with Shop Direct vouchers; runners up received amazon vouchers courtesy of Sea Level Research. As special prizes the CDRC provided a hardback copy of their Deputy Director James Cheshire’s co-authored book, ‘The Information Capital’, as well as Chris Brunsdon & Alex Singleton’s popular book ‘Geocomputation’. Each attendee also received an “honorary ninja” badge from Red Ninja as well as a copy of MOPEKS by Bob Cory.

image 2 alex & co with banner
Our Deputy Director, Alex Singleton (l) pictured with Simon Holgate from Sea Level Research and Matthew Doubleday from Shop Direct

 

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Winning hackers pictured with our Deputy Director, Alex Singleton

 

CDRC response: public dialogues on the (re)use of private sector data for social research

Earlier this year, CDRC Director’s Paul Longley and Mark Birkin participated in a series of public dialogue events in order to better understand the public’s views on the use and re-use of private sector data for social research.

The purpose of these dialogues was to inform the work of the CDRC, the Urban Big Data Centre and the Business and Local Government Data Research Centre.

The Aims

The aims of the public dialogues were:

  • to explore public views and related concerns about key aspects of the Data Research Centres’ work towards enabling access to private sector data for social research
  • to start creating a language around private sector data and access to and use of these for research purposes that is meaningful and accessible to the public

The Findings

Overall, the dialogue demonstrated that there is wide public support for the use and re-use of private sector data for social research. Access to information about the Data Centre processes alleviated a lot of the concerns people had initially around security and privacy. An increased appreciation of the benefits of social research for everyone in society meant that a trade-off took place between concerns and perceived risks of the use of private sector data in favour of research that leads to improvements in policy and services.

Our response

The CDRC, along with our colleagues at Urban Big Data Centre and the Business and Local Government Data Research Centre, have worked closely with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to take forward the findings and recommendations of the public dialogues to improve communication on the work that we do with private sector data for social research. Our official response is now available here. Additionally, responses by the Urban Big Data Centre and the Business and Local Government Data Research Centre can be found at UBDC  and BLG. 

Further Information

The full report and further information on the public dialogue process can be found on the ESRC Website.

UrbanNet 2016 – call for contributions

The Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC), in conjunction with ‘BigData4ATM’ and ‘insight’, will co-host an international event in Amsterdam on 21 September 2016. Submit an abstract by July 15 2016.
Submission of contributed talks are accepted as an extended abstract (max. 2 pages). The abstract in a txt or pdf format should be done via Easychair at this link.

Submissions will be evaluated and selected by the Program Committee members, based on the adherence to the workshop theme, originality and scientific quality. A non-exhaustive list of topics to which particular attention will be paid includes:

  • Methods and tools for the exploitation of new sources of spatial and temporal data, both for real time management and for longer term strategic planning of urban infrastructure and services (transport, energy, communications, tourism…).
  • ICT-driven social and behavioural changes and their impact on location and activity patterns in cities.
  • Modelling of the coupling between short-term and long-term urban dynamics.
  • Consumer data as a proxy for modelling urban networks.
  • Interplay between activity-travel patterns and social networks.
  • Multiplex and multilayer networks in urban contexts.

Once the selection process is completed, the authors of the accepted abstracts will be notified by e-mail. Please remember that all the participants in the CCS conference or the satellites must register at this link.

Scope and rationale of event:
The pervasive access to information is empowering citizens to make more informed decisions (e.g., regarding their travel behavior, shopping, energy and other resources consumption habits, etc.), as well as leading to new forms of social relationships and to the introduction of new activities such as e-shopping and teleworking. At the same time, the penetration of ICT is turning individuals into passive and/or active ‘sensors’ that produce, exchange and consume an increasing amount of information, generating a variety of heterogeneous data on citizens’ preferences and behavior. As we move, shop, travel, etc., we leave e-footprints informing on our needs, choices and opinions. This feedback loop is modifying urban dynamics, as well as opening new opportunities for understanding such dynamics and developing new approaches to the design and management of urban systems. In recent years, research on the analysis of non-conventional data sources has begun to jump from academia to industry and public administration, and the interest in new data-driven applications and decision-making tools for infrastructure and strategic planning is growing every day both in private and public sectors.

Following a series of successful satellites organised at previous ECCS/CCS events, (UrbanNet2013 at ECCS13, CitiNet 2014 at ECCS14, UrbanNet2015 at NetSci 2015), the objective of the UrbanNet2016 workshop as satellite of the CCS 2016 is to create a space for exchanging state-of-the-art results and innovative ideas on how to address the problems and opportunities opened by smart cities through complex systems theory and methodologies. Particular attention will be devoted to new data-driven approaches for improving the planning and management of urban infrastructures, including land use, transportation, energy and tourism planning, to mention some examples.