Centre for BOLD Cities receives grant for big data research on re-integration

The Centre for BOLD Cities has been awarded a grant for researching and designing personalised reintegration strategies, based on the individual capabilities of urban residents who are entitled to benefits. The personalisation can be developed through anonymised linkage of various data sources, which is already frequently done in other disciplines, such as marketing, medication and political campaigning.

In the project, a prominent role will be played by client councils. In so-called ‘data dialogues’, they can join the conversation on the possibilities and risks of this innovative approach, especially concerning privacy issues.

The research project is financed by ZonMw, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development. ZonMw invited a number of parties, including the Centre for BOLD Cities, to write a proposal on big data in reintegration, as part of their ‘Vakkundig aan het werk’ programme, which focuses on reintegration and health. The Centre’s proposal has been reviewed by a specialised committee, and rated scientifically sound and socially relevant.

For its proposal, titled ‘Reintegration in BOLD Cities’, the Centre for BOLD Cities assembled a team with researchers from Leiden University, Erasmus University and Erasmus MC.

‘By joining forces in BOLD Cities, researchers can find each other and develop interesting ideas, using expertise from various disciplines,’ says dr. Marike Knoef (Leiden University). For this project, Knoef teamed up with dr. Merel Schuring (Erasmus MC) and prof. dr. Liesbet van Zoonen (Erasmus University), which led to the development of a multidisciplinary research proposal, which combines data linking with a focus on, among other topics, health issues and privacy.