The Secret Life of a Weather Datum
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Information School
Abstract
The Secret Life of a Weather Datum project aims to pilot a new approach for better understanding and communicating how socio-cultural values and practices are articulated in the transformation of weather data on its journey from production through to various contexts of 'big data' collation, distribution and re-use; and, how these socio-cultural values and practices themselves transform as they interact with the data at various moments over the course of its journey.
Through focusing on the small in 'big' weather data by tracing the (metaphorical) journey of a single weather datum from its production and collation into a 'big' dataset, to its distribution and re-use in three different socio-cultural contexts - climate science, financial markets and citizen science projects - the project aims to develop an innovative conceptualisation of 'big data' production and use that encourages engagement with the complex socio-cultural processes shaping contemporary data-driven developments.
The project asks the following questions:
- What is the 'journey' that weather data produced by the UK's Met Office takes from its production through to its collation and re-use as 'big' weather data in different contexts?
- What socio-cultural values and practices are articulated in the transformation of this data on its journey from production through to various contexts of collation, distribution and re-use, and how do these socio-cultural values and practices themselves transform as they interact with the data over the course of its journey?
- What institutional policies and practices, and government policies and legislation, shape the distribution and licensing of weather data for re-use in different contexts?
- How can the complexity of the socio-cultural dynamics shaping the production, collation, distribution and re-use of 'big' weather data be communicated to a wider audience?
To answer these research questions, the project develops four distinct, but interconnected case studies, which enable exploration of socio-cultural values and practices shaping weather data production, collation, distribution and re-use across institutions of the state and market, and in the collective actions of citizen groups. The case studies focus on: the production of the weather datum by the UK's Met Office; the public and institutional policy context shaping its distribution; the re-use of the weather datum within key centres of UK Climate Science including the Met Office Hadley Centre, the weather risk and derivatives markets in the UK's financial sector, and citizen science projects including the Old Weather Project.
The project will produce a working paper for each case study, and three academic journal articles. The tangible asset to come out of this project will be an interactive website with integrated research data archive aimed at public engagement with the topic of 'big' weather data production and re-use. This asset will be developed further in the future, and will be Creative Commons licensed to encourage re-use of the case materials by others. The project will host an online launch of this website, and an innovative end of project event aimed at dissemination and impact within and beyond academia.
Through focusing on the small in 'big' weather data by tracing the (metaphorical) journey of a single weather datum from its production and collation into a 'big' dataset, to its distribution and re-use in three different socio-cultural contexts - climate science, financial markets and citizen science projects - the project aims to develop an innovative conceptualisation of 'big data' production and use that encourages engagement with the complex socio-cultural processes shaping contemporary data-driven developments.
The project asks the following questions:
- What is the 'journey' that weather data produced by the UK's Met Office takes from its production through to its collation and re-use as 'big' weather data in different contexts?
- What socio-cultural values and practices are articulated in the transformation of this data on its journey from production through to various contexts of collation, distribution and re-use, and how do these socio-cultural values and practices themselves transform as they interact with the data over the course of its journey?
- What institutional policies and practices, and government policies and legislation, shape the distribution and licensing of weather data for re-use in different contexts?
- How can the complexity of the socio-cultural dynamics shaping the production, collation, distribution and re-use of 'big' weather data be communicated to a wider audience?
To answer these research questions, the project develops four distinct, but interconnected case studies, which enable exploration of socio-cultural values and practices shaping weather data production, collation, distribution and re-use across institutions of the state and market, and in the collective actions of citizen groups. The case studies focus on: the production of the weather datum by the UK's Met Office; the public and institutional policy context shaping its distribution; the re-use of the weather datum within key centres of UK Climate Science including the Met Office Hadley Centre, the weather risk and derivatives markets in the UK's financial sector, and citizen science projects including the Old Weather Project.
The project will produce a working paper for each case study, and three academic journal articles. The tangible asset to come out of this project will be an interactive website with integrated research data archive aimed at public engagement with the topic of 'big' weather data production and re-use. This asset will be developed further in the future, and will be Creative Commons licensed to encourage re-use of the case materials by others. The project will host an online launch of this website, and an innovative end of project event aimed at dissemination and impact within and beyond academia.
Planned Impact
A wide range of beneficiaries are envisaged for the project including:
-Policy and broader public sector officials, including public representatives, engaged in the fields of weather data management and re-use policy including the Met Office, DEFRA, and the National Archives as regulators of the re-use of public sector information;
-Data Science curriculum designers including those at the University of Sheffield and their contacts in other universities, and through the international Information School network;
-Data policy activists campaigning for 'open' weather data and data 'wranglers' already actively re-using public data, including those engaged in Open Data Manchester, Open Data Sheffield, Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Rights Group, Open Data Research;
-Media professionals including The Guardian's Datablog, BBC Learning and BBC R&D based in MediaCityUK and London.
-The general public.
A key project outcome will be an interactive website and archive that presents the research findings and data in an engaging way and allows online commenting. A key objective is therefore to address the issue of communicating the complex socio-cultural dynamics shaping the production, collation, distribution and re-use of weather data uncovered by the research process to a non-academic audience. Such understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics shaping 'big data' is vital for quality decision making by:
-Policy makers and political representatives working in this dynamic environment;
-Data science curriculum developers creating new educational opportunities for the new data scientist profession (those who translate (big) data "into policy and commercial-ready insights and effectively communicate them to a range of stakeholders" (Deloitte, 2013));
-Data 'wranglers' and data scientists who are already using and re-using (big) data to explore, visualise and research a wide range of topics;
-Data policy activists who are campaigning to shape the legislative environment around the re-use of public sector data;
-Media professionals who are communicating developments in this field to the general public.
As a pilot project aimed at developing an innovative approach for conceptualisaing and understanding the socio-cultural values and practices shaping 'big data', a further project outcome will be to provide a grounding for future developments in this research area between academic and non-academic collaborators. Efforts to leverage this future development are built into the project design. The end of project workshop will explore new ideas for future research directions that can further develop the approach and scope of the study, and end with a networking session with the aim of providing participants time to build contacts for future development of some of the ideas explored during the day. The workshop will also explore new opportunities for public engagement with the topic of 'big data' production and re-use beyond the interactive website, for example, other forms of media production such as documentaries.
By utilising a modular based approach to the research design and construction of the interactive website and archive (GPL Licensed), and licensing case study content, including selected research data, under a CC-BY-NC license, similar case based modules could be produced as part of future research on other aspects of the weather datum's journey or exploring other types of data e.g. geo-data, which could be integrated with the online cases produced as part of this project. It is envisaged that the workshop combined with the Creative Commons/GPL licensing of the interactive website and research data will contribute to the long term sustainability of the research developed in this project.
Deloitte (2013), Market Assessment of Public Sector Information, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/198905/bis-13-743-market-assessment-of-public-sector-information
-Policy and broader public sector officials, including public representatives, engaged in the fields of weather data management and re-use policy including the Met Office, DEFRA, and the National Archives as regulators of the re-use of public sector information;
-Data Science curriculum designers including those at the University of Sheffield and their contacts in other universities, and through the international Information School network;
-Data policy activists campaigning for 'open' weather data and data 'wranglers' already actively re-using public data, including those engaged in Open Data Manchester, Open Data Sheffield, Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Rights Group, Open Data Research;
-Media professionals including The Guardian's Datablog, BBC Learning and BBC R&D based in MediaCityUK and London.
-The general public.
A key project outcome will be an interactive website and archive that presents the research findings and data in an engaging way and allows online commenting. A key objective is therefore to address the issue of communicating the complex socio-cultural dynamics shaping the production, collation, distribution and re-use of weather data uncovered by the research process to a non-academic audience. Such understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics shaping 'big data' is vital for quality decision making by:
-Policy makers and political representatives working in this dynamic environment;
-Data science curriculum developers creating new educational opportunities for the new data scientist profession (those who translate (big) data "into policy and commercial-ready insights and effectively communicate them to a range of stakeholders" (Deloitte, 2013));
-Data 'wranglers' and data scientists who are already using and re-using (big) data to explore, visualise and research a wide range of topics;
-Data policy activists who are campaigning to shape the legislative environment around the re-use of public sector data;
-Media professionals who are communicating developments in this field to the general public.
As a pilot project aimed at developing an innovative approach for conceptualisaing and understanding the socio-cultural values and practices shaping 'big data', a further project outcome will be to provide a grounding for future developments in this research area between academic and non-academic collaborators. Efforts to leverage this future development are built into the project design. The end of project workshop will explore new ideas for future research directions that can further develop the approach and scope of the study, and end with a networking session with the aim of providing participants time to build contacts for future development of some of the ideas explored during the day. The workshop will also explore new opportunities for public engagement with the topic of 'big data' production and re-use beyond the interactive website, for example, other forms of media production such as documentaries.
By utilising a modular based approach to the research design and construction of the interactive website and archive (GPL Licensed), and licensing case study content, including selected research data, under a CC-BY-NC license, similar case based modules could be produced as part of future research on other aspects of the weather datum's journey or exploring other types of data e.g. geo-data, which could be integrated with the online cases produced as part of this project. It is envisaged that the workshop combined with the Creative Commons/GPL licensing of the interactive website and research data will contribute to the long term sustainability of the research developed in this project.
Deloitte (2013), Market Assessment of Public Sector Information, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/198905/bis-13-743-market-assessment-of-public-sector-information
Organisations
Publications
Bates J
(2017)
The politics of data friction
in Journal of Documentation
Bates J
(2019)
Assembling an infrastructure for historic climate data recovery: data friction in practice
in Journal of Documentation
Bates J
(2017)
Making Data Flow for the Climate Risk Market
in Television & New Media
Bates J
(2016)
Data journeys: Capturing the socio-material constitution of data objects and flows
in Big Data & Society
Bates, J
(2015)
Data Cultures, Power and the City
Bates, J
(2015)
Open weather data and the financialisation of climate change
Bates, J
(2015)
LifeOfData.org.uk
Bates, J.
(2014)
Understanding the socio-cultural shaping of big data infrastructures
| Description | The Secret Life of a Weather Datum project has generated a variety of methodological and empirical research findings. The project developed the Data Journeys methodology which aims to map the journeys and shifting 'life of data' as it moves through space and time. We focused specifically on the journey of weather temperature data produced by public organisations including Sheffield Weston Park Museum weather station, and citizen scientists involved in amateur weather observation and the Old Weather climate data recovery project. We then followed these data as they moved through different sites of data practice, from initial production on into re-use in different contexts including climate science and financial markets. Bringing together a range of theoretical ideas and methodologies from across the humanities and social sciences we were able to contribute to the development of methods to map the movement of data between different sites of data practice, and begin unpacking the shifting social, cultural and material 'life of data' as they move through space and time. In so doing, the project developed an innovative approach for generating critical, theoretically informed, knowledge about emergent data practices. Key conceptual and empirical contributions include theorising the materiality of digital data and its interrelationship with socio-cultural and institutional constructs, for example, examining the ways in which data producers' cultural values become embedded in the data that they produce which impacts upon its reliability, biases, and whether or not it is created in the first place. We also analysed some of the socio-cultural factors that restrict and enable the movement of particular data points through space and time, for example, the design and implementation of public policy around the re-use of public sector information, organisational cultures, and public funding priorities; the "mutability" of data points across infrastructures as, for example, they undergo processes of quality control and data homogenisation; and, the dynamic nature of 'data journeys' over time as organisational changes and the wider social context impacts upon the movement of data between sites. The project also aimed to explore ways in which research data and findings can be shared with non-academic audiences. We published our initial findings on an innovative purpose built website (lifeofdata.org.uk), which allows users to follow the journey of data through the different sites we explored, explore the different socio-cultural contexts of these spaces, and the different public policy frameworks shaping how data flows through and between the sites. The website includes snippets of original research data (photos, interview recordings etc) embedded in the narrative, and links directly to a publicly accessible archive of original research data licenced using Creative Commons licences (where permissions were granted from participants). Through negotiating this innovative use of research data with research participants, we developed significant understanding of the challenges of opening qualitative research data, and how exploring these challenges with participants can contribute to researchers' understanding of the complex socio-cultural power dynamics that different practitioners are embedded within, as well as cultural perceptions of transparency, privacy and sensitivity that impact upon information flows. |
| Exploitation Route | Within academia, it is anticipated that the methods, findings and dissemination practice will be taken forward in the interdisciplinary field of Critical Data Studies, as well as in the fields of Information, Media and Communication Studies, by those interested in the socio-cultural context of emergent data practices and governance issues. Members of the team are currently exploring the development of methodologies from the project to examine data practices other areas including rental housing financialisation. Other potential applications include e.g. mapping the journeys personal data in relation to issues of privacy and surveillance, and use of project outputs for teaching related to the social shaping and implications of data science. In non-academic settings, the methodological and empirical findings may be used by practitioners aiming to gain insight into the impact of organisational cultures, wider socio-cultural context, and public policies on the production, processing and use of data, and its dissemination amongst different actors. For example, policy makers or information managers aiming to understand the impact of information policies across a variety of data use contexts, as well as mapping where and why barriers to data flow are emerging within a given information infrastructure, and what the impacts of these might be. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://www.lifeofdata.org.uk |
| Description | Data infrastructures and flows are becoming increasingly important to economic, social and political systems and processes, yet there is a lack of awareness and understanding amongst the public, business and policy makers about how data circulates through these infrastructures, how data is shared across sectors, and how socio-cultural values and practices and public policy influence the design of these data infrastructures. The Secret Life of a Weather Datum project broadly aimed to intervene within this space through the development of public facing outputs that allow users to explore the data flows, socio-cultural values and practices, and public policy environment that make up parts of the UK's weather data infrastructure. Our initial findings have been presented on an innovative purpose built website (lifeofdata.org.uk). Whilst it is not possible to generate accurate figures for website traffic, our Google Analytics account has recorded 3663 website sessions since the website's launch (1st April - 28th October 2015). These visitors have come from countries around the world, the top 10 countries for visitors being USA, UK, China, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, France, and Italy. This website was launched at an end of project event which brought together academics, open data advocates, and research participants to explore the findings, and discuss possibilities for further research and impact. Members of the project team also contributed to the development of a guide to building a Raspberry Pi weather station - sheffieldpistation.wordpress.com - collaborating with an undergraduate student funded to work with us on this activity through the Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) scheme. The website site has so far received 1294 unique visitors, 350 of these referred through the Education page of the Met Office's WOW (amateur observers) website - http://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/education. The Open Source code for the weather station was published on GitHub, and one re-user of the code has told us about the development of teaching related projects he is involved in using the code. Tied to this activity, we also developed a short 10-15 minute 'citizen science' activity in which participants get to put together a Raspberry Pi weather station and transmit a temperature observation to the Met Office WOW website. The Pi station and activity have been used at the following events in order to engage members of the public and begin conversations about the Secret Life of a Weather Datum project, and the use and role of weather and other data in the economy and society more generally. • Festival of the Mind (September 2014): Schools day - approximately 60 local school pupils (14-15 years old) plus teachers; Public day - approximately 25 people from a 5 year old (with assistance from team members!) to an 80 year old. • V&A Digital Design weekend 2014 part of the London Design festival. Approx. 50 people over 2 days. • Manchester Girl Geeks Pi Party (December 2014). This event was aimed at encouraging girls and women to explore technology. Approximately 20 people over one afternoon. The aim of these public engagement activities has been to spark curiosity and interest about data, coding, and technology, to help people understand the growing relevance of data within the economy and society, and to demonstrate to them that they can get involved in a variety of data practices and citizen science projects. This hands-on activity was an excellent opportunity for us to introduce participants to the concept of data journeys which is at the heart of the SLWD project, as well as more general issues around data sharing, open data, and citizen science. Quite a few participants had Raspberry Pis at home, but didn't know how to get started - we provided a postcard with a link to the SURE funded website on how to build and code a Pi station from scratch. Our impact during this period of the project has therefore been geared towards capacity building at the base, including with underrepresented groups, with the intention to contributing to a broader, long term contribution to economic and social development. The following comments are from participants at these events: • "We have a Pi at home but were unsure how to get started" (Father and son - participants at Festival of the Mind public event) • "It's not intimidating, is it?" Female participant, Manchester Girl Geeks • "I did an English degree but want to get into tech - I'm teaching myself by going to events like this" Female participant, Manchester Girl Geeks • "We had the team visit and run an activity at one of our community events, demonstrating their Raspberry Pi Weather Station. This fit in with our other Raspberry Pi activities, and helped people to see what kind of thing you can achieve using this technology, as well as how this fit in with the larger data gathering project. The team were very friendly, and great at running and explaining their activity. The whole event was a huge success, and we're very grateful to them for coming along." (Katie, Organiser of Manchester Girl Geeks) • "You gave me a reference about MiData and I have discovered on the internet my rights and choices. Thank you for the information!" (Unexpected outcomes - informing people about their information rights at Festival of the Mind) The research team have also discussed the findings of the project in public fora through an appearance on BBC Radio Sheffield, the University of Sheffield Mobile University, iTunesU, and the development of teaching materials based on the findings of the project. Research on the debates around the economic impact of open meteorological data which were explored on the project has been used by PI Dr Jo Bates in evidence given to the Canadian Federal Government's public hearing on Open Government Data, and in recent initial discussions with the Open Data Institute (UK) regarding their research on the economic impact of open data. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Description | Canadian Federal Parliament - Jo Bates invited expert on open data (incl. weather data) |
| Geographic Reach | North America |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=6534497&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses... |
| Description | Cited in RCUK's written evidence to Science and Technology Committee's Inquiry into the Big Data Dilemma |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/science-and-technol... |
| Description | Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience |
| Amount | £1,230 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2014 |
| End | 08/2014 |
| Description | A Pint of Science |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Pint of Science is an annual series of short talks in local pubs organised by the University of Sheffield. We did a short talk about the project as part of the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/pint-of-science-sheffield-1.576209 |
| Description | BBC Radio Sheffield interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | PI Jo Bates gave a short 5 minute interview about the project, focusing particularly on our findings about Sheffield's Weston Park weather station and about how data generated by it was used in a range of different contexts. The interview was broadcast at Drive Time to a large audience, and aimed to spark interest in the Weston Park weather station, and the use of weather data in society. No specific impacts have been noted. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Data Journeys article in CILIP Update |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Published a 3 page article on Data JOurneys in CILIP's Information Professional - the magazine of the natioanl association of library and information professionals |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.cilip.org.uk/?page=dataweathershef |
| Description | Data Journeys postcard |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A5 postcard featuring infographic about the Dat Journeys methodology. Distributed at a variety of information profession events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Data Journeys talk at Yorkshire and Humberside IG group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on Dat Journesy methodology to approx. 40 members of teh Yorkshire and HUmberside Information Governance Group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | End of project event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Our end of project event brought together around 20 academics, students, members of the local open data community, and research participants to hear about the findings of the project, contextualise these in relation to wider debates about data in society, launch our interactive website, and explore opportunities for developing the impact of the project. The day sparked a wide range of conversations and discussions, and has contributed to the team's efforts to build links with the local data communities and the Old Weather citizen science project. Key project outputs such as the lifeofdata.org.uk website and guide to building a Raspberry Pi weather station have since been shared within the these communities, and sparked further discussions e.g. http://forum.oldweather.org/index.php?topic=23.435 and http://blog.oldweather.org/2015/03/18/crossovers-3/ The day has also helped to inform the project team's plans for further research and potential collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://lifeofdata.org.uk/2015/04/07/end-of-project-event-storify/ |
| Description | Festival of the Mind Day 2 (Sheffield) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 60 members of the public attended an event on 20th September as part of the University of Sheffield's Festival of the Mind. The event was called Open Data - Open Hardware- Resilient Cultures, and consisted of 12 different interactive stations for people to try out. The Secret Life of a Weather Datum project helped organise the event and ran a station at which we piloted a 10 minute activity in which people could have a go at building a Raspberry Pi weather station and transmitting a temperature observation to the Met Office Weather Observations Website. Approximately 25 people had a go at the activity from a 5 year old (with assistance from team members!) to an 80 year old, who all enjoyed taking part in the activity and using the Raspberry Pi technology. A poster for the project was on display at the event and we introduced the activity by discussing importance of weather data and why the Met Office is interested in collecting amateur observations. The activity sparked many questions about issues around data quality, citizen science, weather data re-use in climate science and financial markets and data sharing. Many participants also took away Secret Life of a Weather Datum postcards that include details of how to access our online guide which shows how to build a Pi weather station from scratch, including programming the station using Python - a coding language that school children are being introduced to as part of the new computing curriculum. The Pi weather station and guide for building it was developed using funding from the Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience funding awarded by the University of Sheffield in summer 2014. Approximately 120 unique visitors have visited the online guide since three engagement events held on the same weekend in September. Approximately 120 unique visitors have visited our online guide to building a Raspberry Pi weather station since three engagement events held on the same weekend in September. The success of the event has encouraged us to develop further ideas for public engagement around the Secret Life of a Weather Datum project using the Raspberry Pi weather station. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://sheffieldpistation.wordpress.com/ |
| Description | Festival of the Mind day 1 (Sheffield) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 60 pupils plus teachers attended an event on 19th September as part of the University of Sheffield's Festival of the Mind. The event was called Open Data - Open Hardware - Resilient Cultures, and consisted of 12 different interactive stations for pupils to try out. The Secret Life of a Weather Datum project helped organise the event and ran a station at which we piloted a 10 minute activity in which pupils could have a go at building a Raspberry Pi weather station and transmitting a temperature observation to the Met Office Weather Observations Website. A poster for the project was on display at the event and we introduced the activity by discussing with the pupils the importance of weather data and why the Met Office is interested in collecting amateur observations. The activity sparked many questions about issues around data quality, citizen science and data sharing. A number of pupils also took away details of how to access our online guide which shows how to build a Pi weather station from scratch, including programming the station using Python - a coding language the pupils already had a small amount of experience of from school computing classes. The Pi weather station and guide for building it was developed using funding from the Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience funding awarded by the University of Sheffield in summer 2014. Approximately 120 unique visitors have visited the online guide since three engagement events held on the same weekend in September. Approximately 120 unique visitors have visited our online guide to building a Raspberry Pi weather station since three engagement events held on the same weekend in September. The success of the event has encouraged us to develop further ideas for public engagement around the Secret Life of a Weather Datum project using the Raspberry Pi weather station. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://sheffieldpistation.wordpress.com/ |
| Description | MObile University 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Research Associate Paula Goodale gave a talk about the project on board a vintage bus parked in Sheffield City Centre. A video of her talk will be published on University of Sheffield's iTunesU. The talk stimulated public interest in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mobileuni |
| Description | Manchester Girl Geeks event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Manchester Girl Geeks are a community run organisation aiming to encourage girls and women in getting involved with technology. We attended a Raspberry Pi party organised by the group, at which we ran sessions that allowed people to have a go at building their own Raspberry Pi weather station and transmitting a temperature observation to the Met Office WOW project. We ran the session 3 times over an afternoon, working with over 20 people. This hands-on activity was an excellent opportunity for us to introduce participants to the concept of data journeys which is at the heart of the SLWD project, as well as more general issues around data sharing, open data, and citizen science. Quite a few participants had Raspberry Pis at home, but didn't know how to get started - we provided a postcard with a link to the SURE funded website on how to build and code a Pi station from scratch. We received positive feedback from participants and organisers of the event. Some quotes from participants include: "It's not intimidating, is it?" Female participant, Manchester Girl Geeks "I did an English degree but want to get into tech - I'm teaching myself by going to events like this" Female participant, Manchester Girl Geeks "We had the team visit and run an activity at one of our community events, demonstrating their Raspberry Pi Weather Station. This fit in with our other Raspberry Pi activities, and helped people to see what kind of thing you can achieve using this technology, as well as how this fit in with the larger data gathering project. The team were very friendly, and great at running and explaining their activity. The whole event was a huge success, and we're very grateful to them for coming along." (Katie, Organiser of Manchester Girl Geeks) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://sheffieldpistation.wordpress.com |
| Description | Open Collaborative Making publication |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The booklet was distributed widely to people visiting the Digital Design Weekend, by the museum organisers and Open Collaborative Making participants. It is also available for longer term access online via the publishers unform.net. As a result of contributing to the booklet, we talked about our research with a number of other contributers. Not as yet. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://uniform.net/media/59959/Open-Collaborative-Making-a-Digital-Perspective.pdf |
| Description | Twitter activity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | At November 2014 our project Twitter account has 96 followers. We have sent more than 170 tweets since the account was created in March 2014, and we follow more than 200 others. Tweets about events and public engagement activities have been most successful, often resulting in favourites and retweets. Nothing direct at the moment |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/LifeOfData |
| Description | V and A Digital Design Weekend |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Digital Design Weekend 2014 at the V and A, part of the London Design festival, was a large-scale public engagement event organised by the museum in partnership with the Met Office, and had a general theme of weather and climate in a digital context. We were invited to participate in the Digital Design Weekend via the AHRC Digital Transformations team, and also to contribute to a booklet on Open Collaborative Making produced for the event (see separate entry). We took along our Raspberry Pi Weather Station activity to enable members of the public to try out making a weather station for themselves and to show how citizen science data generated in this way can be shared with others via the Met Office's Weather Observations Website (WOW). Overall the event was very well attended, and we engaged directly with approximately 70-80 people, with around 40-50 of those trying out the weather station activity. Participants ranged from 7 years to 70 years old, and feedback was extremely positive, especially from kids, parents, teachers and technology enthusiasts. A poster was on display about our project and a booklet on Open Collaborative Making was distributed widely by the organisers and contributors. At least 50 participants also took away a Secret Life of a Weather Datum postcard that include details of how to contact us, and how to access our online guide which shows how to build a Pi weather station from scratch, including programming the station using Python - a coding language that school children are being introduced to as part of the new computing curriculum. The Pi weather station and guide for building it was developed using funding from the Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience funding awarded by the University of Sheffield in summer 2014. Approximately 120 unique visitors have visited the online guide since three engagement events held on the same weekend in September. As well as engaging with the weather station activity, we were able to talk to a number of people about our research, and about ideas for future research and collaboration. On Sunday afternoon we also talked briefly in a presentation session, about our project , the weather station activity, and our experiences of the weekend, to an audience of Open Collaborative Making participants and visitors. Approximately 120 unique visitors have visited our online guide to building a Raspberry Pi weather station since three engagement events held on the same weekend in September. The success of the event has encouraged us to develop further ideas for public engagement around the Secret Life of a Weather Datum project using the Raspberry Pi weather station. We also made contact with a small number of potential collaborators for future work, and networked with the Met Office, who have been a key participant in our current research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.vam.ac.uk/whatson/event/3404/digital-design-weekend-4853/ |