The big challenge in a world so rich in data is how to make the right connections in the most efficient and reliable way. A great deal of time, effort and processing power can be wasted trawling through masses of structured and unstructured data.
Not only does the architecture of The Grid dramatically reduce this effort, but it provides a universal platform that can be re-used and scaled across multiple industries and users. Importantly, it is not a process-platform but it does ingest and integrate insights from them. The Grid is a market platform that starts with people and their activities and incorporates direct measurements of quality of life and other characteristics of the areas these people are in. The Grid is therefore capable of answering strategic questions that process-platforms cannot, such as questions of sustainability, vibrancy, affordability and social inclusion.
At the core of The Grid is a smart design comprising a complex, yet elegant organising architecture that enables us to create a rich, deep, compelling picture of the world broken down into 500m2 grid squares and 15 minute time increments.
Four organising principles underpin
The Grid:
1
We anchor The Grid to the two most basic elements that structure our world - time and place - and then align everything else to this foundation.
2
We keep all the variance in the data, exploit probability theory, and so lose none of the richness in the insights.
3
We have a methodology to create an expected value for every data point. This expected value can be compared to the actual data point values. The data links across time and place allow insight into the local factors that are changing outcomes.
4
We incorporate quantitative measures of values, preferences, decision making and behaviours.
The Grid’s fuel is data generated by the vast array of sensors out in the world, data about people and place, data about supply and demand for goods and services, data about physical and social ecosystems, and quantitative and qualitative data about human values, choices and preferences.
The structure of our market based platform not only provides the opportunity to create new value (rather than only capturing some of the current value), it also provides an unprecedented feedback loop that will transform whole disciplines, such as economics.
The explanatory power of The Grid is delivered by our unique, proprietary data logics. Insightful connections, predictions and simulations can now be developed across all layers of data in ways that go well beyond what has been possible to date.
