Data-driven analysis has already been proven to give a competitive advantage to businesses that use it smartly. And today, governments and non-profit organizations have also turned to Big Data to harness its benefits and use it for social good. Indeed, it can provide unique insights that can help tackle societal challenges.
The data generated from mobile networks and devices is particularly valuable for scientific research. It can help to establish accurate statistics about population movements, density, location, social patterns, finances as well as ambient environmental conditions. In this article, we give you a few examples of how Mobile Big Data is being used to help combat COVID-19 and, also, to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Mobile Big Data has the potential to support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals
GSMA created the #BetterFuture framework to urge the mobile industry to focus action on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN to end poverty, protect our planet, and enable peace and prosperity for all people by 2030. Among the levers available to mobile operators, the data produced by mobile equipment has the potential to provide key insights for Governments and Public Agencies to better design, implement, and monitor public policy projects.
Indeed, the location data that a user’s handset is seamlessly and constantly exchanging with its mobile core network contains valuable information. To start with, it is widely adopted as more than two thirds of the world's population now has a mobile phone. Furthermore, the location data is exchanged regardless of the mobile phone brand, operating system, app used, frequencies or mobile generation; it is uniform and ubiquitous. And finally, mature big data technologies can now process and enrich the considerable volumes of location data with other data sources.
The GSMA has identified 5 different areas linked to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals where mobile location data can have a real impact.
#1 infrastructure
Mobile location data providing insights into population density and movement patterns provide information to better plan for essential infrastructure projects.
#2 environment
Real-time estimations of traffic congestion for dynamic traffic management reduce air pollution and can be leveraged for long-term transport planning.
#3 managing disasters
Identification of the most at-risk populations can help save precious time when deploying rescue teams.
#4 health and education
It can be used to identify and quantify areas at risk to prepare for and hopefully prevent the spread of a disease.
#5 citizen inclusion
This data can help to understand for instance how to support the unbanked population and target the uptake of digital services.
For further information go to https://www.gsma.com/betterfuture/resources/mobile-big-data-for-a-better-future-report
Flux Vision put to service during the COVID-19 pandemic abiding by the strictest data privacy policies
Launched after a 10-year R&D programme, Flux Vision turns mobile signaling data into population movement statistics. Operating in several European countries, it typically provides indicators like the flow of unique visitors in a region to help businesses in tourism, transportation or retail activities make better informed decisions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Flux Vision has been put to use by the French government to produce indicators to better plan for medical assistance infrastructure in the country. With 27 million devices connected to the French Orange network, the solution can extrapolate the population’s behavior as a whole and establish its movements from one region to another. The information is then transferred to public, administrative and health authorities to draw valuable conclusions and make effective decisions. For instance, it counted the night-by-night evolution of populations by municipality which made it possible to estimate whether the hospital capacity would be able to cope with the most severe cases.
But what about privacy concerns? Once the data is collected and aggregated, only the overall total is stored. The information cannot be used at a personal level. Furthermore, the Flux Vision solution is compliant with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the criteria established by CNIL*, an independent French administrative regulatory body that ensures data privacy law is applied.
Following France, several other European countries have also asked to use the Flux Vision solution to support their efforts in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic: Belgium, Spain, Slovakia and Romania. In the MEA region, local authorities and international NGOs have also expressed their interest.
Unlock the opportunities
The potential impact of mobile big data can be unlocked through investment and innovation, but it can also be realized through partnerships. Cooperation between industry players is the only way to maximize its potential. Working together to untangle the specific challenges in a country by capitalizing on the experience already acquired is key to unlock not only the business benefits of mobile big data but also the world of opportunity it offers in terms of social impact.
