Riley Marsden of Barnsley MBC – CSAP Fellow

Title of the Project:Turning Geographic Data into Geographic Information: Exploiting the Council’s data holdings to support the Customer Services Programme.

The restrictions on Council budgets is well documented and many organisations are rapidly cutting expenditure from their budgets to address the shortfall. However, budget cuts and efficiency savings can only take us so far – eventually a fundamental shift is required both in the range of services offered and the method of delivery.

Our project will focus on developing datasets which can offer an insight into citizen behaviours, requirements and needs. In doing so, we hope to turn data into information which can be used to inform the Council strategy going forward. This will include a range of developments, including:

  • Standardising processes for sourcing and processing useful datasets
  • Disseminating data through our mapping systems
  • Understanding how best we can analyse data, including cluster analysis and segmentation
  • Producing outputs which managers can interpret easily when making critical decisions

Through the TALISMAN fellowship, we hope to benefit from the expertise of the University staff to provide new insight into our methods and help to provide a skill set we can develop further in the future.

Riley’s CV

I have worked for Barnsley MBC for 6 years, with my role as Geographic Information Officer comprising a wide range of duties, including:

  • Data collection, processing and dissemination
  • Data analysis and contributing to evidence base for decision making
  • Advising and training staff in use of GIS
  • Promoting capabilities and benefits of Geographic Information
  • Maintaining, developing and integrating the Local Land and Property Gazetteer
  • Contributing to national user groups

Prior to coming to Barnsley, I worked as a bar manager in Leeds following completion of my BA Geography degree at University of Leeds.

Riley’s Aspirations for the Fellowship

I hope to learn and apply new skills and techniques which can benefit my organisation into the futur. I’m also very excited to return to old pastures at the University of Leeds, if only for a short  period of time.

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