One of the winning pilot projects has been presented from the urban innovation grant call “The Proactive City: Data x Commerce”. The project should help small commerce use open data for decisions to improve their business and gauge customer behaviour better.

The project has been developed by the Barcelona Open Data Initiative Association, with support from the Sant Andreu Shopping Hub, the Mirall de Pedralbes Retailers’ Association and La Marina Retailers’ Association.

The pilot project allowed for the development of a new wesbite and a new app for interactive viewing of open data, easy to interpret and enabling establishments to analyse the situation and potential impact of action and bridge the digital divide in this sector. The tools will be tested until the end of July in three shopping areas which have supported the project. The final versions will then be presented with a view to rollout in other areas.

• The mobile app displays data for a specific establishment in comparison with others in the area and generates graphics, basically transforming data into information and knowledge. Individual user areas mean each business can carry out personalised follow-up relating to:
  • their invoicing
  • their customers
  • perception of success
  • other parametres
• The website features interactive viewing based on open data and providing structured information useful for local commerce. Specifically:
  • data on the economic structure of the neighbourhood
  • data on consumer habits
  • data on population
  • data on social dynamics and associations

The project is one of the winners from the urban innovation grant call ‘The Proactive City’, launched by the City Council and implemented in June by the municipal foundation BIT Habitat. The goal is to find solutions to the new challenges generated or accentuated by the crisis in the spheres of social inclusion, sustainability, urban resilience and the promotion of the local economy.