Using big data and analytics to provide insights, bringing together transport, health, and energy

ADEPT – Thames Valley Berkshire Live Lab

This research and development project, funded by ADEPT (Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning, and Transport) and the Department for Transport (including co-funding from O2) is being undertaken in the six unitary authorities in Berkshire. The goal? To use big data and analytical techniques to develop insights around transport, potholes, air quality, health, and energy to better manage the transport network. It is a two-year collaborative project, and the Thames Valley Berkshire Live Lab is one of seven funded projects.

Our team is responsible for the overall programme management—on behalf of Reading Borough Council as funding body—and we are also responsible for technical support in many aspects of the project including transport, air quality, and energy. The other commercial partners are O2, Siemens, Smarter Grid Solutions, and Shoothill.

Using techniques such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, this R&D project will help manage transportation development and electric vehicle (EV) charging energy management. Outputs will include dashboards for network and energy managers and apps for the general public to be better informed about their impacts on health and the environment—and the impacts of health and the environment on them. The project will also provide planning outputs, for example, predicting future demand and locations for EV charging stations.