Applied Research to Make Events more Secure with Big Data Applications

Six bachelor students from Leiden University, specialization Computer Science or Information Technology & Economics, presented the results of their bachelor thesis project at the campus of The Hague Security Delta (HSD) on 27 June 2017. Their challenge was to develop innovative solutions to make (sports)events more secure and fun, adhering to economic/business requirements and demonstrating technical feasibility.

Patrick Bergman, Chantal Blom, Oscar van Capel, Givan Lieuw-Hie, Joost Miljoen and Elardo Rudolphij studied different aspects of Big Data & Event Security applications. The students particularly investigated the added value of combining data from different owners into a system that is accessible by the parties that are involved in an event, such as the visitors, event organizer and emergency services professionals. Each of the students worked on a different question:

• What are the prerequisites for an event application that visitors might use, taking the privacy regulations into account while sharing data to improve the experience and security?
• How to predict crowded places on event sites with models that describe the movement of people that can be used to better prepare a location like Scheveningen Boulevard for smooth access of large groups.
• What can be done to optimize the customer journey to an event (from leaving home to accessing the eventsite) and make optimal use of the transport and parking infrastructure?
• Which functionality and information is useful in a dashboard through which the different professionals can communicate in an easy and efficient way during the event about the actions that are taken?
• What can a 'second screen' feature bring to increase the interaction between an event and its visitor?
• How to support all these features with a scalable software architecture that can be cost effective for big but also for smaller events and locations? 

They were guided and supported by Arie-Willem de Leeuw and Joost Kok (University of Leiden), Rick van Oosterhout (PROOOST) and Rik Budel and Kees Mouwen (KPN). During their project they interviewed stakeholders like visitors, Police and City of The Hague. This project is part of the big data for securityapplications program .