Manuel Portela,
member of the Research Group on Web Science and Social Computing (WSSC), Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC), and co-coordinator of the DATALOG project at UPF 

In the 19th century, cholera was a serious problem in the United Kingdom. For some reason, the disease was ravaging large swathes of the population, yet no one knew its origin. Some thought it was caused by the stink; others, by poverty. In 1854, the anaesthesiologist John Snow noticed that the people afflicted with cholera lived only in certain parts of London, and in very specific spots. So he mapped the cases and started asking questions. Eventually, he concluded that all of them had got water from the same source. It was the dawn of the use of data to understand urban issues, which requires not only having these data, but also asking the right people the right questions. 

Today, in 2023, we have a lot of data, as well as a lot of problems. Open data portals, data science knowledge and citizen science projects have all grown exponentially. Yet despite the burgeoning volume of data, not all data are accessible and, thus, not all questions can be answered. In a way, we suffer from the same problems as thirty years ago. 

One reason data are not accessible is the limitations of data collection processes. Some data are not easy to obtain because there are no tools to do so, or because of the considerable effort involved. Another constraint is privacy concerns. Care must be taken not to violate privacy rights when collecting, sharing or using data. To this end, there are legal and technical mechanisms in place to prevent personal and private data from being put at risk. 

In Europe, we have legislation establishing a regulatory framework for working with data, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which protects the right to privacy whilst providing access to data for research or public-interest purposes. Similarly, the Data Governance Act (DGA), in force since September 2023, defines mechanisms and bodies that enable data sharing for altruistic purposes. 

Against this backdrop, the Data for Planetary Wellbeing (DATALOG) association was launched in Barcelona. A data altruism organization that seeks to collect data to improve urban policy, the association turns to citizens in order to work with data on energy and water consumption, mobility and other areas that can better answer the questions we have about the city. 

The initiative, which got its start in UPF’s Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC), along with Ideas For Change, was awarded the 2022 Proactive City Grant by the Barcelona City Council’s BIT Habitat Foundation. Vladimir Estivill-Castro and I undertook it based on the premise that cities are contributing to climate change. 

We know that more than 70% of greenhouse gases are produced in cities, but we do not know the exact extent to which this percentage is due to individual energy consumption. At a time of droughts and energy crisis, it is important to have more knowledge in order to measure and assess the changes we can make. In 2024, DATALOG will start collecting consumption data. Anyone who would like to participate can visit the website donar.datalog.es. We encourage you to join this initiative!