Consumer Data Research Support Service (CDRSS)

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This project will establish a unique Consumer Data Research Support Service (CDRSS) for the supply and provision of new forms of 'Big Data' which are emerging in consumer markets. Big Data are frequently characterised as being high in volume, variety and velocity. In other words the data are continually changing (for example traffic sensors may capture the position of individual vehicles which are rarely stationary); the data are diverse (for example relating to the demographic characteristics of people, their movement patterns, their lifestyles and attitudes, social networks); and simply large, so that for example it is possible to retain data over long time periods as computer storage has also expanded sufficiently to permit this in many situations.Retail and consumer organisations have been leading the way in the creation and extraction of value from Big Data. For example Tesco has used data from its Clubcard scheme to profile its customers based on their shopping habits and expenditure patterns. This in turn has allowed the company to maintain a long-term competitive advantage in product development, promotion and store formatting and network development. Telecommunications providers are now processing billions of transactions each day as callers interact with mobile telephone cells and wireless devices. The CDRSS will capitalise on the growing realisation that Big Consumer Data can provide unique insights into social science questions, for example relating to prosperity, deprivation and exclusion; physical movement and behaviour patterns; healthy living, crime, family activities and social networks. The CDRSS will:* bring together diverse sources of consumer data for the first time within a secure environment;* produce tools for the anonymisation, aggregation and analysis of big consumer data;* develop flagship research projects which demonstrate the value of consumer data in research studies; * create the means for widespread access to these data amongst academic research users; * explore mechanisms for extending this engagement to business, government and the general public;* make an important contribution to training and capacity-building in consumer data analytics, and in this way it will therefore have a significant positive effect on the quantitative skills gap in UK social science;The CDRSS will interact with existing and proposed investments, for example in Administrative Data, Research Methods, and Social Media; but at the same time it will create unique resources and its own distinctive community of users.