cambio climático

On November 9, Valencia will host the DataBeersVLC no29 event, jointly organized by the DataBeersVLC collective and the Open Government area of the Valencia City Council, which can also be followed live on the Internet. The program includes four talks on data, three of which will focus on open data. 

DataBeers is a non-profit initiative that is present all over the world. This organization aims to create a worldwide community of data lovers and for this purpose organizes events open to the general public, where they share the most advanced results and methods in Data Science in an understandable way in an informal environment. DataBeers was born in Madrid in 2014 but has already spread around the world and is currently present in 25 cities in different countries. 

In Spain it has presence in Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga o Valencia, among other locations. In the latter, the DataBeersVLC community that was born in 2016, organizes the fourth edition of AI & Dataviz on November 9 at 19:00h at the Centro de Cultura Contemporánea Octubre. In line with its goal of bringing data closer to all types of audiences, the meeting will be streamed live through its Youtube channel. In addition, all talks will be recorded and can be viewed later through the same medium. 

Open data in the fight against climate change, the improvement of tourism and agriculture

The day's program includes four talks. As usual in DataBeers events, the talks will be short, around ten minutes, in a language that can be understood by all kinds of audiences. The relaxed atmosphere created and the didactic tone of the speakers make it possible to bring the world of data closer to the attendees. 

On this occasion, the first talk will deal with 'Air quality in Valencia' and will be given by Inmaculada Coma, professor of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Valencia and director of the Chair of Artificial Intelligence and Information Visualization of this academic institution. 

This talk will present the data from the different monitoring network stations of the city of Valencia that are available in tne open data portal of the City Council and will review the evolution of pollution in the city thanks to the analysis and visualization of this information. This is an example of how open data can help to raise public awareness in a context of climate change and energy transition.

Another of the topics to be addressed at this meeting is tourism, where open data is playing a key role in the sector's transition towards sustainability and digitalization. Laya Targa, data scientist, will present a 'Visualization and optimization of tourist routes in the city of Valencia'. Targa is a member of the Data Interaction and Augmentation Research Group (DINA) and a technician in the ClioViz project at the Institute of Robotics and Information and Communication Technologies (IRTIC) at the University of Valencia. The talk will address some of the innovative data-driven strategies that serve to improve the planning and enjoyment of routes through different monuments in the city. It will explore visualization techniques and demonstrate how routes can be optimized thanks to data and achieve a better experience for tourists that is at the same time respectful of the city and its inhabitants. 

Ferran Fernandez will address a talk on data farming, specifically on 'Saving water with predictive irrigation models'. Fernandez, a specialist in AgTech, will start from the fact that agriculture consumes the largest amount of fresh water in the world, with emphasis on the increasingly frequent episodes of extreme droughts. Thus, he will delve into the need to establish strategies that enable more efficient, sustainable and profitable agriculture. 

In this area, we cannot forget that the digital transformation is enabling the agricultural sector to modernize and move towards what is known as precision agriculture. In this process, data is a fundamental tool for farmers to know exactly what is happening in their crops and to be able to make more efficient decisions in terms of production and more environmentally sustainable. Water resource management is a key part of this process and this talk will explore in depth the new possibilities that open data offers in this area. 

In addition to the applications of open data in different sectors, during the conference Ricard Martínez, director of the Microsoft Chair of Privacy and Digital Transformation at the University of Valencia, will talk about data protection, a topic that usually arouses great interest among citizens. In the era of artificial intelligence that we are beginning, privacy is one of the main concerns and for this, it is necessary to maintain the balance between open access to information and the protection of personal data to ensure the privacy of individuals. The talk will discuss how to protect them from the design and traceability, fleeing from radical solutions such as prohibiting the processing of data. 

In short, the program of the fourth edition of AI & Dataviz organized by DataBeersVLC will show the use of open data in areas with a direct and very visible impact on society. The dissemination of the use of open data is essential to promote trust in data and digital infrastructures, as well as to raise public awareness of some of the challenges we face today, such as climate change. 

To attend the event in person, all you need to do is register here. It is also possible to follow the live webcast by connecting to the DataBeersVLC channel on YouTube. 

Climate Modeling and Prediction: planning for a Sustainable Future

Climate models make it possible to predict how the climate will change in the future and, when properly trained, also help to identify potential impacts in specific regions. This enables governments and communities to take measures to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.

Increasingly, these models are fed by open datasets, and some climate models have even begun to be published freely and openly. In this line, we find the climate models published on the MIT Climate portal or the data and models published by NOAA Climate.gov. In this way, all kinds of institutions, scientists and even citizens can contribute to identifying possibilities for mitigating the effects of climate change.

Carbon emissions monitoring: carbon footprint tracking

Thanks to open data and some paid-for datasets, it is now possible to accurately track the carbon emissions of countries, cities and even companies on an ongoing basis. As exemplified by the International Energy Agency's (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2022 or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data, these data are essential not only for measuring and analyzing emissions globally, but also for assessing progress towards emission reduction targets.

Adapting Agriculture: cultivating a resilient future

It is clear that climate change has a direct impact on agriculture and that this impact threatens a global food security that in itself is already a global challenge. Open data on weather patterns, rainfall and temperatures, land use and fertilizer and pesticide use, coupled with local data captured in the field, allow farmers to adapt their practices and evolve towards a model of precision agriculture. Choosing crops that are resilient to changing conditions, and managing inputs more efficiently thanks to this data, is crucial to ensure that agriculture remains sustainable and productive in the new scenarios.

Among other organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) highlights the importance of open data in climate-smart agriculture and publishes datasets on pesticide use, inorganic fertilizers, greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural production, etc., which contribute to improved land, water and food security management.

Natural Disaster Response: minimizing Impact

The analysis of data on extreme weather events, such as hurricanes or floods, makes it possible to design strategies that lead to a faster and more effective response when these events occur. In this way, on the one hand, lives are saved and, on the other, the high impact on affected communities is partially mitigated.

Open data such as those published by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) or the European Environment Agency are valuable tools in natural disaster management as they help streamline disaster preparedness decision-making and provide an objective basis for assessment and prioritization.

Biodiversity and conservation: protecting our natural wealth

While it seems clear that biodiversity is vital to the health of the Earth, human activity continues to put it under great pressure, combining with climate change to threaten its stability. Open data on species populations, deforestation and other ecological indicators such as those published by governments and organizations around the world in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) help us to identify areas at risk more quickly and accurately and thus prioritize conservation efforts.

With the increased availability of open data, governments, institutions, companies and citizens can make informed decisions to mitigate the consequences of climate change and work together towards a more sustainable future.

Content prepared by Jose Luis Marín, Senior Consultant in Data, Strategy, Innovation & Digitalization.

The contents and points of view reflected in this publication are the sole responsibility of its author.

Climate change, air pollution and sea pollution. These are the 3 main environmental problems for Spanish citizens according to the latest Eurobarometer "Attitudes of European citizens towards the Environment", published in March 2020. The survey also highlights that 90% of the Spanish population considers to protect the natural environment important. Citizens want more action to be taken and believe that responsibility should be shared between companies, national governments, the EU and citizens themselves.

As with other sectors, such as education or health, open data can also help us to overcome environmental challenges. On the one hand, it provides us with detailed information to understand the situation and to be able to look for solutions. On the other hand, they serve to implement solutions that help us raise awareness and reduce our environmental footprint.

In its report "The Economic Impact of Open Data Opportunities for value creation in Europe”, ", the European Data Portal highlights that data can "contribute to reducing total energy consumption in Europe, increasing the use of sustainable energy sources, protecting biodiversity and raising awareness of CO2 emissions", as well as generating an economic impact of around 1€ billion. Let's look at some examples:

• Reducing energy consumption. Open data-based applications can serve as a tool to help households and institutions to understand and reduce their energy consumption. In this sense, the Regional Government of Castilla y León has launched an Energy Datahub that provides detailed and visual information on energy consumption in the more than 1,500 centres managed by the Regional Government: educational centres, health centres, administrative offices, hospitals, etc. The scorecard facilitates the disaggregated analysis by type of energy (electricity, gas, diesel) and by geographical location, allowing informed decisions to be made. According to the Board itself, thanks to the energy scorecard they have saved more than 12 million euros in electricity since 2015.
• Increase the use of sustainable energy. The 2018 EU directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources sets a target for the share of renewable energy in gross final consumption to be 32% by 2030. To help achieve this target, publicly available data on urban planning, use of public services or weather conditions can be cross-checked to create solutions that help make housing more sustainable. One example is Solarmap, which allows the profitability of a solar panel installation to be calculated for a specific location.
• Improving biodiversity: Changes in ecosystems can lead to mass extinctions of species and the limitation of available natural resources, which can affect not only our economy but also our own way of life. In this sense, open data serves as a basis for solutions that, for example, help us monitor various parameters of port waters (such as Environmental Control Panel), improve waste management (Punto limpio) or publicise noise pollution (MAdb).
• Raise awareness of air pollution and the reduction of CO2 emissions. Although, as we saw at the beginning of this article, we Spaniards are very aware of climate change, however, if we look at the individual habits of citizens, we see that there is still much to be done. Only 38% try to reduce their energy consumption, 28% choose less polluting forms of transport, and 36% buy local products. It is therefore necessary to continue raising awareness, for example through indicators of air quality in cities such as GV Aire. There is also a need for applications that promote the use of more efficient means of transport, such as bicycles or public transport (Barcelona metro bus rodalies bici).

You can find more examples in the applications section of datos.gob.es and in our environment section.

A few months ago, the Open Data Climático, carried out by the Spanish Meteorology Agency, starred a large number of news, with headlines such as "70% of Spaniards affected by climate change", "Summers are five weeks longer than they were in the eighties" or "The semi-arid climate advances towards Galicia".

Our planet faces big challenges in the coming years: deforestation, high levels of contamination, melting of the poles, desertification ... All these element endanger the life of the different species that live on the Earth, leading some even to extinction. In addition, it could damage the economic development: if the effects of climate change are not mitigated, the global market could suffer a recession of up to 20% of global GDP, as said by Carmen Parra, Director of the Chair of Solidarity Economy of the Abat Oliba CEU University, based on the Stern Report on the impact of climate change on the economy.

Human beings have the responsibility to try to reverse this situation, and the technology and open data can help us. Providing detailed and up-to-date information helps to raise environment awareness, as well as to seek solutions to climate change and the other environmental challenges that affect us.

Taking advantage of World Environment Day, in datos.gob.es we have wanted to compile some examples of applications that reuse open data generated by public bodies and whose objective is to promote sustainability and environment improvements.

Fight against pollution

Nine out of ten people around the world are exposed to levels of pollution that surpass the security quotas indicated by the World Health Organization (WHO). An increasing number of cities, regions and countries put in place mechanisms to try to limit the amount of pollutant particles and gases emitted. In this sense, we can also find more applications to inform about air or rivers situation in real time.

• airACT. This application, developed by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia together with Ecologistas en Acción and the CSIC, among others, seeks to inform the population about the air quality in real time. Through an alerts system, based on WHO recommendations, users can know main air pollutants levels, as well as the risk they are exposed to.
• Riu Net. In addition to the air we breathe, it is also important to raise awareness about water quality. Riu Net is an interactive educational tool that allows evaluating the ecological status of the rivers and, at the same time, it provide scientific data that can be consulted both by experts and environmental managers and the general public.

Improve waste management

8 million tons of plastics arrive every year to our oceans. To end this situation, it is necessary to promote the reuse and recycling of materials. The applications that show the waste collection points help raise awareness and educate public about the recycling, classification and disposal of waste. Some examples of these applications are:

• Garbage containers in Cáceres. This application help to visualize the location of all containers in the city of Cáceres. The user can filter by types of container (organic, plastics, paper, etc.) to improve the search and locate the closest container.

• CleanSpotApp - Your nearest clean point !. Some waste needs specialized containers (recycling centres). Thanks to applications like CleanSpotApp we can know the closest household waste recycling centre to deposit batteries, electrical appliances, light bulbs, used oil, clothes and shoes, toys, books and school supplies, coffee capsules, etc.

Promote sustainable means of transport

Automobiles account for 83% of transport CO2 emissions. Some applications based on open data seek to avoid or reduce the individual use of private cars and encourage the use of more sustainable means of transport (public transport, bicycles, electric scooters).

• dBizi++. dBizi Users can know, with a frequency of 5-6 minutes, the availability of bicycles in the 16 stations of the city of San Sebastián. In addition, the application informs the user about the feasibility of their journey, using historical and real-time data.
• Puedo circular. This application provides personalized information on the contamination protocols in the city of Madrid. The user only has to enter the license plate of his vehicle in the web / application and will obtain information on the environmental mark that corresponds to the vehicle, the current scenario activated according to the pollution protocol of the city and the effects of this scenario: whether or not you can travel around the city, where you can park or what speed you should keep to reduce the environmental impact.

Fight against noise pollution

We usually forget acoustic pollution when we talk about environment, but its effects can be very harmful to health: it can generate from stress and sleep disorders to loss of attention or cardiovascular diseases. In Spain, at least 9 million people support average levels of 65 decibels, the limit accepted by WHO.

• ComfortUP!:This is a mobile application for citizen collaboration, through which people who are using public spaces can assess the comfort of these places from an acoustic and thermal point of view, based on their own experience. The application also allows observations and measurements of environmental conditions in a selection of city parks.

•  Noise Capture: This application support citizen science project whose objective is to register the noise levels listened by the users. In addition to discovering the noise pollution suffered by citizens, it allows us to share this information and contribute to the creation of collaborative noise maps on a voluntary and anonymous basis.

The protection and improvement of the environment is a fundamental issue that affects welfare and social and economic development. Therefore, it must be one of the priorities not only of governments, but also of citizens. Thanks to the open data, and the services created based on them, citizens can be more aware of their environment and act accordingly to reduce their environmental footprint.

Promote the use of open data in the European Union to generate new ideas, products and innovative services. That is the objective of EU Datathon, which this year celebrates its third edition, organized by the Publications Office and the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The competition offers participants the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in data-related issues and show their ideas to the world. To do this, they will have to develop applications - web or mobile -, visualizations and insights that combine at least one data set produced by the EU institutions, agencies and bodies with other sources of public or private data.

There are 3 different categories, one horizontal challenge and two thematic challenges:

• Challenge 1: 'Innovative ideas through open data'. Participants should develop innovative ideas using open data from the EU. Specifically, they must use at least one data set from the EU Open Data Portal, and combine it with other open or not data sources.
• Challenge 2: 'New insights in economics and finance'. Participants will have to develop a new insight, business model or business concept through open data. To do this, they must work with at least one dataset from the European Central Bank, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Budget, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Finance, the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund or Eurostat, and combine it with other open or private data sources.
• Challenge 3: 'Tackling climate change'. Participants will have to develop a new business concept or business model to fight against climate change using open data. To do this, they will have to combine at least one dataset in the domain of climate change and environment from the EU Open Data Portal, with any other source (for example, the FAO or the European Environment Agency).

Those interested in participating have to register their project using this online form, before March 24, 2019.

Then, the evaluation process begins, which will consist of two phases: preselection and final selection.

• Pre-selection: an independent experts jury will evaluate the projects description,  and select a maximum of 4 teams for each category, based on its relevance to digital transformation in Europe and the potential of the proposed solution, among other factors.
• Final selection: The preselected teams will be invited to develop their application or visualization in almost two months. Then, they will have to present their proyect during the final conference, which will take place on June 13 in Brussels. In addition to its relevance, the applications will be evaluated against some criteria such as solutions scalability or its interoperability to other data sources.

As a prize, € 25,000 will be allocated for each challenge, which will be split in the following order:

• First prize:  EUR 15,000
• Second prize: EUR 7,000
• Third prize: EUR 3,000

For all those interested, the organizers have prepared a series of webinars, to detail the bases of the contest and show some data sources that can be used.

If you have an idea, do not hesitate to participate!