The Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) had a successful outing at the UCL Festival of Culture, held across University College London (UCL) from 23 – 27 May.
The aim of the week-long event was to showcase the rich and enthralling diversity of the world-class research carried out within the university, with over 80 free public events held across the campus.
The CDRC hosted their exhibition in the Department of Geography foyer. Titled ‘Mapping the masses: what does big data say about you’ our exhibition took the form of short interactive drop in sessions for all, showcasing CDRC research, our mapping portal and datastore.
The exhibition was received extremely well, with over 70 local, national and international attendees from across various academic and non-academic disciplines. There was heightened interest in our visualisations, with attendees keen to explore our mapping portal and identify ways in which it could be utilised for their specific area of interest; the exhibition coincided with the launch of our latest map – ‘Top country of birth across the UK’ – and all attendees seemed keen to identify key trends within their area.
With a range of international visitors from France to Canada, discussion also centred on the significance of big data in their respective nations, leading to interest in the development, execution and use of the datastore.
The twitter hashtag for the event – #uclculture – generated animated feedback. Martin Compton, Senior Lecturer in Learning, Teaching & Professional Development, University of Greenwich, called it a “fascinating exhibition” with particular emphasis on our visualisations; Naomi Rintoul, Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University, found the exhibition”very interesting”.
For more on the programme.