Campus Groningen is innovating its data knowledge with the help of Emanuela Avagyan, data analyst at the Campus. In this interview, she talks about what data means for the Campus and what kind of value data can add in the future. In the upcoming month, Campus Groningen will release multiple data-related blogs.  

Before we start with data related to the Campus, what is the concept of data?

‘’I would say data is just information. It is like a footprint generated by everyday processes or actions. Everything can be converted into data eventually and our current technology has gotten very good at tracking and capturing different types of information. It is tempting to want to monitor everything, but I believe it is important to formulate specific research questions beforehand and to have concrete research goals.’’

You are data analyst at Campus Groningen. Can you explain what this means regarding Campus Groningen?

 ‘’I am the first data analyst working for Campus Groningen. I currently focus on identifying relevant metrics, data collection and management, as well as building, improving and maintaining data infrastructures. Even though processing large amounts of data can be challenging, I try to be very thorough when it comes to data validation. Erroneous data will always lead to misleading conclusions, so looking critically at the data and making sure that the data is as representative of reality as possible is of utmost importance for any research project. The conclusions are very important for the development of Campus Groningen.

Currently, I am also busy creating a relational data model. This essentially means finding relationships in your data tables and connecting the related tables via unique identifiers so that they can interact with each other. This will serve as the foundation for a database system that we will be developing in the future.’’

Why is this relevant for Campus Groningen?

‘’I have been creating visualizations and dashboards with the data. One way to gain insights from data is to visualize it. The Campus is a complex ecosystem made up of many independent organizations such as educational institutions, companies, local government bodies etc. These organizations have their own internal systems and generate their own data, yet they constantly interact with each other. Initially, we didn't have all this information, both current and historical, available in one place. Yet it is valuable to have a bigger picture of all the interactions to evaluate the current situation and predict where we are heading. With this information now at hand, we will be able to monitor the complex processes in and around Campus Groningen and identify where we can invest in more innovations.’’ 

What can data do in the future for Campus Groningen?

"At present, the data primarily serves as a monitoring tool. For example, we keep track of the student numbers, both as a growth metric and to measure how busy the Campus is. We also keep an eye on how companies are distributed across buildings. This helps us identify potential locations for new companies and measure how busy buildings are and what we can do to improve that. However, in the future we would like to use our data not only to track growth metrics and identify the current happenings on the Campus but also as a decision-making tool which can help us provide more quality to the Campus."

How do you relate to other campuses?

We are in contact with the other national campuses regarding data. For example, we have already had a knowledge-sharing session with one of the national campuses. My impression so far has been that most campuses in the Netherlands are still trying to figure out how to approach their data and what they can do with it. Here at Campus Groningen, we are striving to constantly upgrade our knowledge about data science and are also happy to share it with others!"