The past decade has seen a flood of data about cities, information with the potential to make communities cleaner, healthier and more livable.
University of Illinois Chicago scientists will play a key role in realizing that potential through a new computing platform they are building for researchers and the public that can be used in different cities and around the world.
The Open-Source Cyberinfrastructure for Urban Computing Research, or OSCUR, will be a cohesive ecosystem of tools and resources to transform city data into knowledge and action. The multi-institutional collaboration was funded by a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, with $1.75 million going to UIC.
Researchers from the UIC College of Engineering and College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs will work with investigators from New York University and the University of Washington. UIC will bring strengths in visual data analysis, civil engineering and government and community partnerships to design accessible computational tools for environmental justice, transportation and other public priorities.