At UEI we facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship that improves the quality of life in urban communities. Our team of research associates is working hard to bring new technologies to the Urban Innovator Platform that support and enhance the work of our members.
At the heart of every great business lies an important problem.
That accepted business wisdom is at the heart of one of our latest projects. We have been developing a “problem mining” tool that uses data analytic techniques to determine the key problems people are experiencing in a given community. While the tool is in the early stages of development, and does not seek to replace human interaction, we think it may save time for urban innovators by pointing them to problem areas that may ultimately lead to a business opportunity.
In a test case, the team pointed their prototype problem mining tool at the city of Flint, Michigan (see figure below). Check out the short (roughly 7 minutes) video below where UEI founder David Tarver and the team discuss the project. If you want more information, you can check out full interviews with David and with the team.
