Smart-city modeller wins data pioneer of the year award
Citi Logik, a recent recipient of an Innovate UK loan, has won a UK Business Tech Award for helping make cities smarter.
Citi Logik's Chief Executive Officer Stephen Leece.
Insights and predictive analytics company, Citi Logik, has won the data pioneer of the year’ award at the 2018 UK Business Tech Awards, following a series of projects that assist urban planners.
Its technology – CitiAnalytics – creates a detailed analysis of road and transport movements using anonymised 3G and 4G mobile network data. It then provides a transport model to help with future infrastructure planning and development around vehicles, walking and public transport.
Citi Logik Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Leece said it’s important that companies that use data for public good are recognised:
We’ve taken a very specific decision to work in a very precise area of the smart city market, by working with data for a public benefit.
The award is recognition that that’s a good thing to do and that this is the way forward for managing data.
Ongoing support
Citi Logik has benefitted from various funding and support from Innovate UK.
In 2011, small-scale grants from Innovate UK and Transport for London led to high-profile contracts to analyse traffic flows around the Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
Further funding in 2017 enabled the company to test its platform in a real-world environment with the city of Hull.
This year the company received an innovation loan - Innovate UK support designed for businesses close to market - to help them commercialise their innovation.
New contracts, new projects
Citi Logik, which is now based out of the Future Cities Catapult in London, has followed its success at the UK Business Tech Awards with new contracts to evaluate the core data of travel models in 2 cities in Yorkshire and the north east.
The first will provide a similar model to the Hull project, using anonymised mobile data, while the second will look at air quality.
Stephen continues:
Local authorities are now mandated to identify areas that need attention and they need a plan to reduce the impact.
We’ll be providing statistical data of people’s movements by their own vehicles, foot and public transport to help them build a strategy based around it, whether that’s persuading people to take different routes or to charge vehicles within certain zones.
The UK Business Tech Awards feature 18 categories across various disciplines including education technology, finance technology, best app and entrepreneur of the year. Citi Logik was 1 of 6 companies shortlisted for the data pioneer of the year award.