Last Thursday, the DIZH1 Public Data Lab (PDL) held its launch event in Zurich.2 Matthias Mazenauer, Co-Head of the Statistical Office of the Canton of Zurich, has posted some impressions on LinkedIn.
From the PDL website:
Changes in society, the economy, and the environment pose major challenges for the canton of Zurich. According to its constitution, it has a mandate to maintain the quality of life of its population and to ensure sustainable ecological, economic, and social development.
The PDL aims to collect and analyze data to understand what drives change and how the society responds. It aims to combine data into indicators that measure quality of life and support informed decisions. Through art, design, and public exhibitions, the PDL also plans to raise awareness of how indicators connect to social, political, and ethical contexts.
The PDL consists of representatives from the four institutions:
- Statistical Office of the Canton of Zurich
- University of Zurich (UZH)
- Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK)
- Opendata.ch
The University of Zurich participates in the PDL with the Department of Mathematical Modeling and Machine Learning and the Department of Geography. While the initiative is still very young, the PDL website (in German) already lists some flagship and associated projects some of which involve geospatial analysis, for example:
- the creation of a spatial index of multiple deprivation (Flagship Project 2)
- the development of indicators of well-being in green spaces using deep learning, StreetView imagery, aerial photographs, satellite imagery, and geodata (Flagship Project 3) and
- the development of a spatial index of potential energy scarcity (associated project).
The PDL is funded until 2029.
If you want to follow along, the PDL has a news feed.
Footnotes
The DIZH is the “Digitalization Initiative of the Zurich Higher Education Institutions”. The University of Zurich (UZH), the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and the Zurich University of Teacher Education (PHZH) form the DIZH network. The mission of the DIZH is to “promote cooperation on digitalization issues between higher education institutions in Zurich, thereby strengthening the greater Zurich area as a hub for research and business”.↩︎
Transparency note: I am a member of the advisory board of the PDL.↩︎