10 November 2016

How Big Data will stop you missing your flight

The optimum results you are looking for, when you use Big Data, is the information you never knew existed. Non-intuitive relationships between variables are the key to unlocking predictive behaviours that can save budget and vastly improve efficiency.

And the applications can improve our lives immeasurably. For example, a new system to predict whether passengers will catch their connecting flights has been developed by the UCL School of Management, to reduce delays at the world’s most congested airports.

Using real-time data, the study focuses on passenger movement using advanced data analytics and machine learning technology to accurately predict hours in advance whether passengers will catch their connections to avoid flight delays and better manage queues at security and border control. The system is currently being trialled at Heathrow Airport.

But data mining need not be on such a grand scale: simple data mining exercises around traffic levels, air quality and footfall allows councils to introduce traffic calming or turn certain street lights off at certain times. This takes weeks, not months, to implement and it doesn’t require a mathematician and this small scale data mining is the way to build the foundation of a Smart City, like Milton Keynes.

Milton Keynes is the fastest growing city in the UK, where a wireless network has been employed across the whole city, with sensors monitoring air quality, congestion, car parking spaces, traffic movement and footfall and even which public bins are full. The data is brought together in an information hub that contains 5000 data sets. Organisations like Anglian Water and other service suppliers are hooked in to the infrastructure.

So using big data to identify what people do and when they do it, before weaving that in to the infrastructure can not only take out the pain points many of us experience as citizens in a busy city, but also get more bang for our budget buck. And big data can also give us the knowledge and the strategic sense of what a city needs to make it Smart. Whether it will make the security queues at Heathrow any less agonising remains to be seen.

Bob Quin is Senior Marketing Manager at BT Business and Public Sector.

SIGN UP
For your free daily news bulletin
Highways jobs

Activites Assistants (CASUAL)

Durham County Council
£24,404 (12.65 p.a. hour) - £25,183 (£13.05 p.a. hour)
This is an exciting opportunity for Casual Activities Assistants to join our Leisure and Sport Service.   Leisure Centres are
Recuriter: Durham County Council

Pension Administration Officer

Durham County Council
£24,404 to £25,183 p.a. (Grade 3) Pay award pending
A vacancy has arisen within Pension Services for an Administration Officer to provide admin and data support to the pensions team and members of the L Durham
Recuriter: Durham County Council

County Attendance Officer

Oxfordshire County Council
£37035 - £39513
We are seeking to recruit to the role of County Attendance Officer on a permanent basis to work predominately across the North or the South of the county. The team works across the whole of Oxfordshire so flexibility to work in other areas is also require County Hall, Oxford
Recuriter: Oxfordshire County Council

Software Engineer Starter

West Northamptonshire Council
£26914
We're looking for an exceptional human to join our digital team to learn the skills and put them into practice, designing, developing and maintaining websites, mobile apps & AI. You'll join us on our journey as we create better end-to-end services for our Northampton
Recuriter: West Northamptonshire Council

Executive Director - Growth, Enterprise and Environment

Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council
£139,111.00 (pay award pending)
This is a chance to make a significant difference to the lives of families across our borough – and to seriously improve your quality of life. Redcar and Cleveland House, Kirkleatham Street, Redcar, TS10 1RT
Recuriter: Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council
Linkedin Banner