Democratizing access to Spatial Data Science with the next generation of spatial data platform

Project Information

NextGen.DO

Grant agreement ID: 960401

DOI

10.3030/960401

Project closed

EC signature date 31 July 2020

Start date 1 August 2020

End date 31 July 2022

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 2 636 875,00

EU contribution

€ 1 845 812,50

Coordinated by

CARTO GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM SOCIEDAD LIMITADA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NextGen.DO (Democratizing access to Spatial Data Science with the next generation of spatial data platform)

Reporting period: 2021-08-01 to 2022-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Advanced analytics and Machine Learning are disrupting the way organizations make business decisions. There are many different software products that focus on analyzing images, videos, language, and many more types of data. But one area that is still not developed is the analysis of location data, where things happen, and why they happen there.
To do market analysis, site selection, and overall understand why things happen somewhere, you need a Spatial Analytics Platform and Location Data. Traditionally, the technology and the data have been produced and distributed by different organizations, making it hard for users to use them and especially hard for applying Machine Learning to them.
With NextGen.DO CARTO will develop a new paradigm of Location Data Marketplace connected to analytics technology that will reduce dramatically the time taken for spatial analysis and make it much more accessible.
This requires harmonizing data from many providers using Machine Learning and building a common Index. We are looking at reducing the time it takes for a user to make use of a location dataset from 1 month to just a few hours. With NextGen.DO CARTO will change the way location data is accessed, paid, and used, and will result in substantial growth of CARTO’s market penetration.
CARTO’s ambition is to become the world’s leading Location Intelligence platform, empowering organizations, with the help of third-party data streams and spatial analysis, to turn their location data into business outcomes. Our strategy is to create software and data products that will make Location Intelligence more widely accessible to every organization. With NextGen.DO analysts, developers, and data scientists are equipped with the tools, APIs, and libraries needed to build Location Intelligence applications that can help businesses to make investment decisions, streamline operations, reduce costs, and much more. CARTO's platform caters to multiple industries & solutions ranging from the public sector to healthcare, retail, logistics, and telecoms. CARTO not only impacts these businesses' bottom line but also helps enhance sustainability and safety measures.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

CARTO has successfully developed the work and delivered the reports planned for the first and second reporting period. The results obtained have been very satisfactory. In particular:

WP 1 - Administrative, operative, and strategic management: All the activities (operative, strategic and administrative) related to the management of the project have been performed successfully during the RP1 (M1 - M12) and RP2 (M12 - M24). We have completed the deliverable: D1.1 Mid-term report (M12) and D1.2 Final Report (M24).

WP 2 - Tech platform, connectivity & cloud computing: Design and implementation of the necessary components in the CARTO technology platform that enable the functionality of the NextGenDO, and its operability with the rest of the components of the stack and external platforms. All the activities planned for the RP1 (M1 - M12) and RP2 (M12 - M18) have been performed successfully. The objectives have been met and all activities finished in January (M18).

WP 3 - Data science, statistical models and data privacy anonymization standards: tasks related to ensuring the NextGenDO democratizes access and facilitates the implementation of spatial data science to a larger audience of users. All the activities planned for the RP1 (M1 - M12) and RP2 (M12 - M18) have been performed successfully. All the objectives have been covered, and the finalization of all the activities was in January (M18).

WP 4 - Piloting: The main objective of WP4 was to test and demonstrate the performance and usability of the enhanced platform under real-world conditions in different use case scenarios. This WP started on month 13 and ended on month 24. Deliverables submitted during RP2 related to this WP are: "D4.1 Pilots' design, KPIs and implementation plan", "D4.2 NextGen Data Observatory code" and "D4.3 Pilots' results analysis and main conclusions".

WP 5 - Business model fine-tuning, pre-commercial strategic agreements negotiation and project communication: to provide overall support to the project by multiplying its impact through increased awareness among the target stakeholders and the spatial data community at large. All the activities planned for the RP1 (M1 - M12) and RP2 (M12 - M24) have been performed successfully. The communication plan was successfully designed and delivered in document "D5.1 Communication Plan" in Month 3. Another deliverable submitted during RP1 related to this WP is "D5.2 Report on results obtained during the first period". Deliverables submitted during RP2 related to this WP are: "D5.3 Fine-tuned business model and go-to-market strategy" and "D5.4 Report on results obtained during the second period".

Work package 6 - Ethics requirements: The objective was to ensure compliance with the 'ethics requirements' set out in this work package. The objective of this work package has been successfully met in Month 3 with the deliverable D6.1 - Ethics Requirements.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

We have completed all the key objectives beyond the state of the art. Expected results by the end of the project and potential impacts are:

Objective 1 – Expedite data gathering, data preparation and data management workflows.
- Reduce 10x the average time data scientists need to discover, access and enrich their data.
- 100 stars at GitHub at CARTO repository.

Objective 2: Boost spatial data science processes, models and privacy standards
- Automatize the process of consuming anonymized premium datasets through the NextGen Data Observatory.
- Reduce 2x the average time needed to use advanced spatial models with NextGen.DO

Objective 3: NextGen.DO prototype piloting and validation in different use cases and customers
- NextGen.DO is validated and reaches TRL8 (System complete and qualified).
- Gain direct customer feedback on new procedures and functionalities.
- Gain testimonials to support the product communication during the launch phase. Success cases in every target market/country ready for dissemination and communication activities.
- Valuation of the company and attractiveness of NextGen.DO for investors will increase heavily and ensures future funding to scale the business

Objective 4: Enhancing market positioning
- Extend our current network of stakeholders to boost growth and tap new market segments and countries with +10 new data providers.
- Enhanced market reach capacity (+4 additional agreements with customers, resellers or distributors in 2022).
- Validate our business plan and develop country-specific go-to-market strategy and product launch plans for market introduction in new countries.
- Access to financial resources and strategic partnerships to implement our post-project market expansion strategy.
- Increase awareness of our superior technology and USPs thanks to the communication/dissemination of success cases and results obtained in the pilot projects.

Other impacts:
- Growth of the number of customers thanks to account expansion within existing customers.
- ARPC (Annual Revenue per Customer) slightly increases over the years, following the traditional process in the adoption of new services.
- Total number of employees at company level will evolve from 40 employees in 2019 (8 of them working on NextGen.DO) to almost 100 in 2024 (+60 working on NextGen.DO)

NextGenDO - Spatial Data Catalog web interface