Case study
How data & analysis support Lancaster University’s Future Places Centre
Summary
The Future Places Centre (FPC) builds on Lancaster University’s pioneering projects on pervasive computing, the Internet of Things (the IoT) and the natural environment, on ‘futures thinking’ and data science. Funded by the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council), the FPC works to create a portfolio of applied research endeavours that help the University and the communities it serves better understand the places in which they exist.
Company size
5,000
Industry
Education
Products used
Challenge
Professor Richard Harper, Co-Director of the Institute for Social Futures at Lancaster University, explains: “We need research data to help energise the change agenda in the North West for space and place. We want data both for measurement and to help us reimagine the environment and community and see things differently. It’s a broad remit.”
Senior Research Associate and Data scientist, Jan Hollinshead, used CACI data in previous commercial roles. She approached CACI to talk about how the data might be applied in the context of academic research. “We’re looking at how to segment the human population, so profiling data for the community seemed really relevant. We decided to take the CACI data for a year, to see whether it delivered value for our projects.”
Solution
According to Richard: “We’ve used the data as a resource that brings together sociodemographic information to categorise the communities around Morecambe Bay. Because our project is about making changes over a five-year period, it provides an essential baseline measure.”
The team also used it to challenge assumptions about the characteristics and economy of towns and sociodemographic groups around the Bay. This can help them focus more effectively and objectively on the most pressing issues and opportunities to investigate.
Acorn helps the FPC team understand the demographics of residents and communities in focus project areas, so they can attract a diverse range of people to those areas.
Results
“This data is colouring in what we know about the local population. It means we can define things better and more sharply,” says Jan. “It’s easy to talk about data in spreadsheets, but that doesn’t mean anything until people see it related to places they know on a map. That’s a big plus for us, with our remit to share the data widely with a range of audiences.”
Richard agrees. “CACI’s data is workable and tractable – we can visualise it powerfully and link it with digital maps. For instance, we’ve showed in pie charts that for people in Morecambe, ill health is often linked to being older, whereas in Barrow, more young people are unhealthy, which indicates different causes and circumstances.”
“Another advantage is that we can show that the data is objective, because it’s from a professional third party. A lot of our partners may have been using their own data, which doesn’t always give them the full context or range.”
The FPC extended its agreement for Acorn data for the entire five-year duration of the Future Places project. There’s potential to work with more partners in the charity and public sectors, sharing valuable insight about the communities they serve.
“CACI data gives us direct insight, but it also usefully highlights what isn’t there and where we need to build up more data and research. It’s an important anchor,” Richard concludes.
