The DECODE project has announced that its BCNNow platform has been connected to the CityOS, a big data infrastructure deployed in Barcelona, Spain.
DECODE is a Horizon 2020-funded project which is experimenting with practical ways that people can take control of the collection and sharing of their personal data, with the aim of reinforcing Europe’s growing data-centric digital economy. Barcelona is leading the push towards data-driven smart cities, managed by the CityOS big data infrastructure, which is currently under construction.
Barcelona has also established a data analytics office to access, manage and combine datasets as part of the city’s drive to become smarter, and the use of this data will contribute significant improvements to quality of life for citizens by powering smart innovations in a variety of sectors, including healthcare and transport.
How will the BCNNow platform support Barcelona’s smart city ambitions?
The BCNNow platform will make a number of new datasets available for use by authorities in Barcelona, but will also provide tools to allow citizens to collectively decide how publicly owned data is used and shared, and for what purpose. In a blog post, DECODE’s Oleguer Sagarra, Javier Rodriguez and Pau Balcells suggest that the technology is ‘paving the way to a future where data is shared as an infrastructure instead of a commodity to be bought or sold’.
In addition, the project will continue to develop the BCNNow platform, and include a personalised experience for citizens participating in two pilots which will launch in Barcelona soon, related to Internet of Things developments and open democracy.
Sagarra, Rodriguez and Balcells welcomed the collaboration with the city of Barcelona as a vital step towards fulfilling their aim, saying: ‘Our job at DECODE is to try and lay down the economic, social and technological means towards that end, and the connection we announce today, albeit a small step, is a significant one to fulfil this vision.’
