Mathematics for Vast Digital Resources

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British society, economy and government are becoming digital at staggering speeds. Individuals use the Internet to shop for books, houses and employment, search for information, share resources and group into social networks. Government wants to provide better and faster services to citizens and companies, cut costs and identify tax evaders. Much of business has moved online in the form of digital stores, service portals and targeted advertisements, breaking the physical barrier of distance between parties interested in a particular kind of interchange. Entering a future digital era provides many opportunities which, if seized properly, have a strong potential to boost economic growth and improve the quality of life. Researchers are facing the challenge of developing the tools necessary to make the best use of these opportunities. In this project we will develop new methodologies addressing the challenges and utilizing the opportunities arising from increasing vastness -in size and accessibility -of digital resources . We will analyze mathematical properties of these problems, design novel techniques to exploit their structure, implement them into efficient algorithms, and collaborate with industrial partners and digital economy hubs to ensure impact. Size: Technological breakthroughs in mankind's ability to produce and store huge amounts of data create an unprecedented challenge: a new science is needed for organizing, optimizing and interpreting data coming from new sources like the Internet, commercial databases, scientific experiments and government records. Hospitals, research labs, transportation companies, retailers and businesses produce more raw data than current technology is able to utilize effectively. Moreover, it seems that this trend will continue at an exponential rate. For the problems in this category we will develop new ground-breaking operational research techniques requiring us to reach the depths of several disciplines, merging insights from numerical optimization, machine learning and software development.Accessibility: Due to the vast accessibility of digital resources, portals connecting suppliers of a certain service with potential customers are becoming extremely popular. There are websites specializing in employment (Jobs.ac.uk), housing (Lettingweb.com), as well as contact points facilitating general exchange (Gumtree.com, Craigslist.org). The need to manage the customer portfolios of these portals for optimal user experience uncovers many fundamental mathematical challenges. Since the existing literature does not address these new problems appropriately, a careful study of these systems has the potential to improve user experience substantially. We will construct and analyze mathematical models of such systems using techniques at the interface of modern queueing theory and optimization.In summary, we will develop new operational research techniques which: (i) are capable of dealing with the unprecedented scale of modern digital resources, and (ii) will upgrade the access management to these new resources. Our goal is to gain new mathematical insights into the underlying problems in digital economy and provide the industry and the society with new tools to address these problems appropriately to meet public's expectations over the next decade.