Policy Cloud Builds on H2020 Big Data Legacy

Rather than starting from the ground up, Policy Cloud will build on the legacy of already completed H2020 Big Data research projects. This is in line with the need for projects to exploit relevant and publicly available results to enhance their own work, leading to better research outcomes and contributing to European research excellence.

Policy Cloud aims to harness the potential of digitisation, big data and cloud technologies to improve the modelling, creation and implementation of policy, and to address challenges faced by many businesses and public administrations in improving how they make policy decisions by accessing and using data. In particular Policy Cloud will build on and enhance work completed by QROWD, SecureIoT, STRATEGIC, and Big Policy Canvas.

Data Processing Pipelines

As part of the QROWD project, an Innovation Action (IA) funded under H2020-EU.2.1.1. which finished in November 2019, Policy Cloud consortium member ATOS developed a data acquisition framework based on creating data processing pipelines using Apache NiFi, which are being reused and extended in Policy Cloud to create data flows related to data analytics.

Cyber Security

Policy Cloud partner Ubitech was part of SecureIoT, a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) funded under H2020-EU.2.1.1. which finishes on 31 December 2020, which is developing concrete implementations of security data collection, security monitoring and predictive security mechanisms, which will be the basis for offering integrated services for risk assessment, compliance auditing against regulations and directives (e.g. GDPR, NIS, ePrivacy). This experience will be used in Policy Cloud, for which the assessment of the implications of cyber-security risks in a data sensitive environment is crucial.

Cloud Adoption

STRATEGIC, a Pilot Type B (PTB) funded under CIP, which finished in December 2016, provided comprehensive guidelines and best practices for cloud adoption in the public sector. Policy Cloud partner London Borough of Camden was involved in the project. These guidelines and best practices will inform the work to be done by Policy Cloud.

Research Recommendations

Another project which has plenty of results that Policy Cloud can exploit and develop even further is Big Policy Canvas (BPC) which ended only a year ago in September 2019. NTUA was a partner. The main results were: 

• The BPC Roadmap for Future Research Directions which outlined the research challenges on the use of big data for policy making. This is a useful document pointing the way for the direction of Policy Cloud.
• The Research Directions and Recommendations Report on research clusters including: 
  • Privacy, Transparency and Trust cluster and Public Governance Framework for Data Driven Policy Making Structures - will be used as part of Policy Cloud’s Data Governance.
  • Data Acquisition, Cleaning and Representativeness - will be reused and enhanced for Policy Cloud’s Reusable Models & Analytical Tools.
  • Data Storage, Clustering, and Integration and Modelling and Analysis with Big Data - results will contribute to the Architecture & Innovation of Policy Cloud.
  • Data Visualization - results will be built upon for Policy Cloud’s Cross-sector Policy Lifecycle Management.

It is essential that funded research projects build on the legacy of previous projects. Policy Cloud will use the best results of previous projects, enhancing and developing them, to deliver a unique, integrated environment of curated datasets, as well as data management, manipulation, and analysis tools which address the full lifecycle of policy management.

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