Big, Open Data: Mining and Synthesis (BODMAS)

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The volume and assortment of available data for research in the social sciences has dramatically increased in recent years- a trend that shows no sign of stopping. For the first time researchers can obtain large amounts of population data free of charge (so-called "open data") thanks to government websites such as data.gov.uk. When these data are combined with the computing power to perform complex calculations it creates an unprecedented opportunity for social science researchers. We are now in an era of big data and this is fundamentally changing the research environment for investigations across social science. The purpose of this project is to develop some of the new perspectives required to adapt to these changes in the practice of data modeling and synthesis. These new perspectives include the need to account for the increased uncertainty in data provenance and less thorough metadata, as the data provision philosophy has shifted away from careful collection and dissemination to an emphasis on expediency. Researchers increasingly have to temper gains in data volume against losses in data quality when they embark on a study. Extra caution is also required when combining datasets, especially if they contain geographic information, as it is not always case that the spatial scales are compatible. The proposed project will develop a web-based tool to help social scientists minimise or eradicate these issues by enabling the synthesis, mining and visualisation of open datasets in a more informed way. The project will also use the newly combined data to undertake more complex analyses of population processes using supercomputers to gain unprecedented insights into phenomena such as commuter flows. In addition the project is focused facilitating my personal ambition to become a Future Research Leader. A comprehensive list of world-leading collaborators (ESRI (UK), the Open Data Institute, University of Illinois and University of Zurich) each have a specialism of interest to me and that is integral to the project. Activities with these organisations and my mentor, Professor Michael Batty, form part of a comprehensive plan for knowledge transfer and personal development. I have the full support of my host department, the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, which ensures that the project activities are not confined to the time formally costed to it. As the proposal demonstrates, the proposed project is both ambitious and extremely timely and will strive for high impact social science.