Are you working for a business that is using NERC or other environmental data, or would like to be able to use such data? Are these data uses supporting business activities that are outside of academia? If your answer is “yes” to both questions, then we would like to hear from you.
NERC would like to improve the accessibility of data held by NERC data centres and to develop new tools and services to drive innovation within a digital economy. The centre of current ambitions is the creation of new business opportunities. To this end we are currently undertaking a discovery project to establish non-academic requirements for an Environmental Information and Innovation Hub.
Examples of business uses of NERC data include the use of:
- modelling techniques by Pest Risk Information Service to predict crop loss caused by pests (such as insects, mites and plant pathogens) in up to six countries in sub-Saharan Africa
- climate simulations by the oil and gas industry to estimate the profitability of damage to assets (e.g. via sea level rise, storm surge, heat/cold)
- weather data by power companies to predict demand
- weather data for the management of motorway traffic
- data from air quality measurements by Councils to monitor "clean air zones".
There are plenty of other examples, and your need for environmental data may be entirely different. The first stage of this project is a survey. If you are a non-academic user (in the private, public or third sector) of NERC or other environmental data or plan to become one, we would be grateful if you could spare 10 to 15 minutes of your time to complete this survey. Your input will help us greatly to shape our future services in a way that supports your business needs.
The survey is open until mid-April 2018 and can be found at https://bodc.me/eds
