A recurring theme at the Big Data Congress in Saint John last October was the global movement toward a data-driven society. Most of the 600 delegates were probably unaware that one Atlantic Canadian city is already moving toward becoming such a community.

It is, in fact, Saint John itself.

The New Brunswick city has completed a pilot project called the Pattern of Life program, which is now graduating to its next phase. The goal is to collect and analyze digital data to enhance efficiency and improve people’s lives.

“What’s next is the call to action to the community,” said Erin Flood, chief operating officer of Hotspot Merchant Solutions, one company involved in the project.

“We are looking to work across the business community, citizens and the municipal government.”

The Big Data Congress began in Saint John three years ago as a forum for people and organizations interested in the economic opportunities offered by data analysis. Given the growing interest in data analytics, Hotspot and such groups as Enterprise Saint John, T4G and Cisco announced the Pattern of Life project last May.

They deployed a network of beacons throughout Uptown Saint John to detect when someone with a cell phone passes by, to build up a library of open-source data on traffic flows. By aggregating all the data on vehicular and pedestrian traffic, businesses and government can better understand what is happening in their city.

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“The impact of data on my operation is huge,” said Nancy Tissington, executive director of Uptown Saint John Inc. “By collecting real-time data on pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow through Uptown, I’m able to validate so many of my business cases.”

In an interview, Flood said the data analysis can be used by businesses considering opening new locations. Armed with the concrete data, economic development teams can tell businesses what locations have the most traffic, and where they should consider locating.

In terms of government services, it can suggest traffic and transit routes, where and when parking spots are needed, and what amenities people may need as they move through the city. It can improve policing, which would make for a safer city and possibly save the municipality money. And it can also indicate optimum energy-saving infrastructure, benefiting the environment.

Flood said a modest investment in a network of sensors can benefit more than 600 businesses in the area, reduce government spending and lead to better services for 70,000 citizens. As it moves forward, she hopes the project will expand into such cities as Moncton and Fredericton.

The concentration on data analysis represents an evolution for Hotspot. The company began three years ago by developing an app with which people could feed a parking meter. It then installed beacons in local retail outlets so merchants could receive data and use it as a customer-service tool. The system could validate customer parking and improve the in-store experience.

“Parking and transportation has always been a key part of Big Data,” said Flood. “It’s just about how to take these datasets and leverage them to find value in how to apply it to a big city. It’s about letting the community know the value of data and open data, and how we can use it across the community.”