UK Government Contract Future Cities Data Integration Platform

In an attempt to stimulate the market for Smart City solutions addressing the challenges  issued faced by UK cities, the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), administered by InnovateUK, is investing in core Smart City Technology.

Run under the  Future Cities Solutions program the core challenges of to energy, data and transportation are being addressed Within this program, the OCDP Open City Data Platform has been selected as the Data Integration platform, which will “connect data sets and data sources”

The Open City Data Platform (OCDP) solution uses open, non- proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs) and data formats, in order to maximise the interoperability between data and services. CEO of NquiringMinds, Dr Nick Allott believes that the OCDP platform that will be developed with several cities and will have the potential for even wider deployment, as a tested and proven solution, in other cities in the UK and globally. 

“We have talked to councils and listened to their needs.  The idea for this work has come from a need to give a city clear views on their data by overlaying datasets that are currently in silos, and by providing people with an  holistic view of how their data interacts.”

The platform addresses three complementary issues

• A drag and drop graphical interface to rapidly apply visualisation and analytics upon the cities data resources
• A trusted data exchange, to facilitated the sharing of sensitive data between city departments, city subcontractors and national government agencies
• An Internet of Things data hub: for the aggregation of real time sensor data across the city

The project will roll out over the next 24 months with Hampshire County Council. Cambridge County Council  and Liverpool City Council. Other local authorities and potential partners are invited to get in touch at info@nqminds.com.

Some early results of the project can be seen in a prototype project addressing GP resourcing issues by combining open data from multiple sources, and applying sophisticated modelling techniques. http://nquiringminds.com/gp-pressure/ NquiringMinds develops  a secure Internet of Things IOT platform with integrated data analytics’s and data visualisation capabilities.

This platform is gaining significant traction in the SmartCities sector. We have recently been recognised by Cisco Pioneers Program as a Top 15 IOT company.