PDXPUG: October meeting in two weeks

When: 6-8pm Thursday October 20, 2016
Where: iovation
Who: Kristin Tufte
What: Urban Analytics: Connecting People to Data

Data from connected and automated vehicles, from connected intersections, positional or probe data from cell phones, crowd-sourced data, fixed-sensor vehicle speed and volume data, air quality data, and more… The list of data sources available to Smart Cities for use in Urban Analytics is almost endless. But data by itself is just data; what’s powerful is using data to solve people’s problems. This premise was central to the City of Portland’s – Ubiquitous Mobility for Portland proposal – one of seven finalists in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s $40 million Smart City Challenge.

In this talk, Dr. Tufte will discuss possibilities for using data and analytics for solving people’s problems including technical, institutional and social barriers to such work. She will also talk about the Smart City Challenge itself – she was a core member of the team and will share insight into (really stories about) the process, the team, the work and the presentation in DC. In the end, Columbus, OH won the challenge, but Portland put together a great proposal and a great team and she’ll also talk about how she expects Portland to continue to move Smart Cities forward.

Dr. Kristin Tufte is a transportation data management expert with expertise in the application areas of transportation and smart cities. Dr. Tufte has collaborated closely with transportation agencies in the Portland-Vancouver area for the past ten years and manages PORTAL — the longest-running public transportation data archive in the nation. Dr. Tufte is a key member of the highly-regarded city-university partnership between Portland State University and City of Portland and was the data lead on the City of Portland’s Smart Cities proposal, one of seven finalists in the US Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge. Dr. Tufte’s passion is using data and technology to change people’s lives.


If you have a job posting or event you would like me to announce at the meeting, please send it along. The deadline for inclusion is 5pm the day before the meeting.

Our meeting will be held at iovation, on the 32nd floor of the US Bancorp Tower at 111 SW 5th (5th & Oak). It’s right on the Green & Yellow Max lines. Underground bike parking is available in the parking garage; outdoors all around the block in the usual spots. No bikes in the office, sorry!

iovation provides us a light dinner (usually sandwiches or pizza).

Elevators open at 5:45 and building security closes access to the floor at 6:30.

See you there!