Urban Data Platform

The Urban Data Platform brings together hundreds of different datasets about Houston and surrounding areas in a secure computing environment.

Housed on Rice University’s secure servers, the Urban Data Platform is a system designed for storing, processing and analyzing public, as well as confidential, data from government, nonprofits and academia.

The Urban Data Platform offers:

# A secure data storage and computing environment with an array of software and tools;

# An online catalog with downloadable datasets; and

# A data curation and research collaboration service.

Downloadable Datasets Available to AnyoneThe UDP offers dozens of research-ready datasets available for download, including data from the American Community Survey and Harris County Appraisal District, post-Harvey environmental health data, crime data and data from the Houston Area Survey on arts, education and health. Most data is geocoded and well documented.

Secure Datasets Available to Qualified ResearchersThe UDP’s secure server also houses hundreds of datasets on demographics, housing, health, education, transportation and other urban-related issues. Most of these datasets are also geocoded. The secure system enables researchers to combine information from different sectors and find connec-tions—for example, the links between school absenteeism and air pollution.

Registered UDP users authorized by a UDP oversight com-mittee, including both Rice and non-Rice researchers, may connect to the system remotely via a virtual private network. Not all datasets are available for use by all users.

House Your Data on the Urban Data PlatformResearchers also are invited to contribute their own data to the UDP. Data published on the platform receive a citable digital object identifier, or DOI, giving credit to the contributor, and is made available to the larger community under the Open Data license.

Additional ServicesUDP faculty, staff and student assistants offer training in data science, including secure data management and statistical learning methods. Short GIS courses are also offered by the Fondren Library’s GIS/Data Center at Rice University for Rice faculty, staff and students at Rice, as well as Friends of Fondren Library members.

To learn more about UDP visit:

www.kinderudp.org

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