Data research projects
Urban Big Data Centre: big data management
Much of the University’s Future City research relies on the expertise developing within our Urban Big Data Centre. A core function of the Centre is the creation of data management methods that will support the linkage of previously disconnected datasets (i.e. the creation of big data). The techniques devised will link to, and support, the specific related research projects originating from the Centre. Currently, this related research focuses on the development of new urban indicators in support of data driven urban policy, transport planning, social inclusion, urban migration, economic opportunity and the relationship between housing tenure, education, health & wellbeing and income.
It is envisaged that further research projects will be supported by the data management techniques developed at the Centre, where these might be inter-disciplinary at University level and/or involving a range of external academic, industry and governmental partners. It is also expected that the Centre will work closely with the Datalab Innovation Centre established at the University.
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Datalab
The University is the West of Scotland hub for the national Datalab Innovation Centre, a government backed initiative to develop industry/academic led approaches in the exploitation of big data as an untapped economic and social resource. Based on the application of data science, the Centre will develop industry collaboration through research, skills development programmes and commercial joint ventures.
Concentrating on the Financial Services, Government, Health, Oil & Gas and ICT sectors, it will build capacity in analytics and machine learning, cloud computing & infrastructure, databases, data quality, integration & exchange, data flows, real-time streaming, data security & privacy, image processing, information visualisation, mobile & location based applications, natural language processing, computer architectures, search, semantic web, information retrieval and text mining.
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SMART Sensors and physical activity
The City of Glasgow reports a long history of poor health and inactive lifestyles for many of its citizens. While numerous interventions have been attempted over the years, the effects have been variable and limited. The University’s School of Computing Science has developed a range of games and apps for use in mobile devices, designed to encourage long-term behavioural change in groups tending towards unhealthy lifestyles. One such approach utilises the sensors generally available in common handheld devices to record physical activity in under-active groups. By introducing a competitive aspect to this (game), and promoting/endorsing it through a local football club, the project has been able to reach marginal elements of the community at risk of long term health issues.
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Data Systems for Future Cities: large-scale information retrieval system
Through the analysis of city level data, agencies can gain the knowledge to improve services, infrastructure and the quality of life for citizens. However the enormous scale of existing data available to us, combined with the huge projected increase in this for the years to come, requires the development of a reliable data systems infrastructure for the organisation, management and interrogation of big data. The complexity and variance of these disparate datasets, whether they be from the public, private or community sectors, requires the development of systems which can capture, store, interrogate and derive intelligent value from them. The School of Computing Science is developing a range of techniques that will support the association of previously disconnected datasets, allowing us to blend data perspectives to see the city in new ways.
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Smart Tourism
In partnership with several other Scottish Universities, Edinburgh Festivals, Historic Scotland and Glasgow Life, this project enables the sharing of tourist information, personal experiences, recommendations, and suggestions between personal mobile devices as the visitor moves around the city’s attractions. This creates a dialogue between individual and visitor groups to promote specific attractions, enable targeted marketing, and enhance tourist information from shared personal experience, whilst harvesting visitor data and improving business engagement with the tourist community.
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MSc Data Science
The Masters in Data Science provides thorough grounding in the analysis and use of large data sets applicable to the Big Data and IT industries. The programme is based around a series of taught courses and a significant programming team project.
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