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MILTON KEYNES
How Big Data Is Used To Create Smarter Cities
Background
Milton Keynes is a large town (technically – although it is often referred to as a city) in the middle of England with a population of around 230,000. It is a “new town” developed in the Sixties and designed to house the ever-growing London overspill population. From the start it was developed with telecommunications in mind – following a grid pattern based on modern American city planning techniques, and without the traditional “town centre” from which traditional, organically grown cities and towns had naturally evolved.
The idea was that telecommunications would do away with the need for citizens to commute in large numbers into town centres to work, where businesses would be grouped closely together, before returning home to the suburbs in the evenings. Telephones meant businesses could trade without having to meet face-to-face in the local market. This gave rise to out-of-town warehousing and logistics sites on cheaper, undeveloped land with good access to transport infrastructure such as motorways.
By the early 2000s, this idea was still evolving, and the rapid expansion of Internet communications gave rise to the concept of the “smart city”. This involves applying technology, including IT and Big Data principles, to every area of civic life, from waste management to public transport, with the aim of improving the quality of life for the people living there.
Thanks to its great links to other major cities such as London and Birmingham, by this time Milton Keynes had grown into a tech hub in its own right, with a young and technically inclined population. This meant it was a natural choice for a UK smart city project.
To this end, the city council applied for, and were eventually awarded, a £16 million grant from the Government and BT, with the aim of kick-starting development of smart city infrastructure projects in Milton Keynes.
What Problem Is Big Data Helping To Solve?
In line with growth forecasts for other cities in the UK and around the world, the population of Milton Keynes is expected to continue to quickly grow in coming years. Estimates say a further 50,000 people will call it home in 10 years’ time, swelling the population to around 350,000.
Existing civic infrastructure will be hard pressed to deal with this. Roads are at risk of becoming congested, current public transport facilities will be insufficient, air quality will be reduced, waste facilities will overflow and schools will be overcrowded. All of these will inevitably lead to a decline in the quality of life for the people living there.
On top of this, all cities in the UK and much of the developed world have committed to reducing the amount of carbon emissions released into the air, in order to mitigate the effects of climate change.
How Is Big Data Used In Practice?
Around three years ago, Milton Keynes’ council could see the value of a data-driven approach to infrastructure planning and service delivery but lacked the in-house skills to implement the technology. They approached the business community for assistance and, after establishing a series of forums for discussing possible options for the future, began working with several partners to develop the vision of Smart City Milton Keynes.
One key initiative, developed with the help of the Open University and BT, is MK: Smart.1 It will act as a data hub for all of the other projects in the city where their effectiveness and impact can be assessed.
Internet of Things (IoT) type, connected solutions have been proposed for transport, energy efficiency, water supply planning, enterprise growth and provision of education. Sensors will be installed at waste disposal facilities, meaning the process of emptying them by truck can be made more efficient. Traffic and footfall through public spaces will also be monitored in order to plan public transport routes as well as footpath and cycle path infrastructure.
Many of the projects are underway, with a number of homes taking part in trials of energy-saving home appliances and smart meters, in association with energy provider E.ON. Other families have been provided with free electric cars in order to carry out a year-long viability study on the technology. And in the near future, the city will see the first UK trials of driverless cars on its grid-like, roundabout-heavy road network.
The latest initiative, CAPE, uses satellite imagery and data on thermal leakage of houses; the aim is to help citizens to manage their own community energy schemes and ultimately reduce their carbon footprint. It will supplement satellite imagery with building and energy data to locate neighbourhoods that could benefit from an energy makeover. It’s a first in the UK and the latest addition to the MK: Smart programme.
What Were The Results?
Although the project is in its early stages, Milton Keynes’ council are already working with over 40 partners on projects across the city.
Geoff Snelson, director of strategy at the council, tells me the theory and technology have been proved and that the emphasis is now on developing sustainable business cases for developing and delivering the services.
He says: “Internationally, there is a real dearth of hard evidence about the benefits that these bring, and we are trying to correct that.
“We’ve got a lot of research and development funding, but now we are moving to the stage where we are pushing into the development of real commercial models.
“A lot of these solutions are about delivering efficiencies by gathering better – more timely and more accurate – information. It’s not voodoo – just better information. It’s not really about proving the tech works any more. It’s about proving that it works in a sustainable way in a real urban environment.”
What Data Was Used?
Satellite images overlaid with planning guidelines data are used to monitor the growth of “urban sprawl” and ensure that building development is taking place in line with strategy and regulations.
Data is collected from more than 80 council-run refuse disposal sites, to ensure they are being emptied in an optimal way – cutting down on wasted journeys and unnecessary CO2 emissions.
Sensors monitor the flow of traffic on roads through the city, which is used to alert motorists to congestion and plan future infrastructure development.
Smart street lighting technology gathers data on when and where people are walking at night-time, to ensure illumination where necessary for safety and energy conservation where not.
Data on water and energy usage is gathered to better understand demand and to help plan for supply.
Social media use in the city is analysed for sentiment towards the projects in use and under development. In addition, social media use in other areas is monitored, to compare how well the civic authorities communicate with their citizens compared to in other cities and towns around the UK.
What Are The Technical Details?
An analytics platform designed by the Indian company Tech Mahindra, which have an office in the town, provides much of the data processing infrastructure of MK: Smart.
The Tech Mahindra Analytics Platform is based on Hadoop. Other open-source technologies – including Sqoop, Flume, Spark, Oozie, Mahout and Hive – are also extensively used. Current use cases typically involve around 600 gigabytes to 1 terabyte of data, with daily queries numbering in the hundreds of thousands; however, the system has been designed to handle much larger use cases that could emerge in the near future.
Any Challenges That Had To Be Overcome?
Because of the lack of specialist knowledge of technology and data analysis within the council, partnerships with other organizations were developed.
One which is playing a key part in the development of MK: Smart is Tech Mahindra, mentioned above, that have had a presence in Milton Keynes since the turn of the century.
Their vice president of global transformation, Upendra Dharmadhkary, tells me: “We had been doing emergency response management in India, where there is 10 times the population, and we thought, ‘Why can’t we apply some of the technology here?’
“We have frequent discussions with the council and a good working relationship. I think the council is one of the few in the UK which is agile enough to think about and implement these ideas.”
Another potential concern was how the public would react to the encroachment of technology into their everyday lives, particularly elements such as the driverless cars, which, although theoretically far safer than human-controlled cars, are largely untested.
Geoff Snelson tells me: “They do need to be introduced quite carefully. Of course, there are safety considerations – but in Milton Keynes people are generally quite excited about it – they take pride in it even.
“There’s quite an appetite for things that position Milton Keynes as an exciting and interesting place.”
What Are The Key Learning Points And Takeaways?
City populations around the world are booming – smart, connected IoT technologies will be necessary now and in the future to allow infrastructure development to keep up.
IoT and smart city tech have the potential to hugely improve efficiency in the delivery of public services, and make cities more pleasant to live in.
Although investment in these areas must have a provable business case, as funding budgets are limited, particularly so in times of economic recession or depression, “thinking smart” about infrastructure development, while incurring short-term costs, may provide long-term savings.
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
For more information on smart cities visit: