Insights on road safety with open data: the case of Rome

Abstract

Modern cities face the challenge of providing citizens with an appropriate level of services to maintain the growing population. Thanks to the support of open data policymakers are capable of ensuring administrative transparency and participation in decisions, enabling citizens and employees to effectively use services and tools and integrating physical and intangible infrastructures (systems, data and processes) in a service-oriented perspective. This study investigates open data about car accidents in the metropolitan city of Rome between 2014 and 2019 through the service science lens. It is pointed out how the city roads maintenance (for example, road surfaces, road signs and traffic extent) can significantly affect the number of people involved in accidents. From these results, possible improvements in diminishing the number of people involved in car accidents are explored through a prescriptive analysis. This study represents a powerful tool to improve services in the public sphere and an example of the shared value generated by open data initiatives. It contributes in improving the understanding of a data-oriented culture and of building a network of people in all public administrations to increase the shareable information assets of the metropolitan city of Rome.