ActiveXchange partners with mapping software and location services provider Mapbox

Acting on feedback from hundreds of regional partners across three continents, ActiveXchange has announced its global partnership with mapping software and location services provider Mapbox.

This game changer partnership will for the first time allow ActiveXchange to connect Movement data at scale to its National Infrastructure Databases of facilities and spaces, tracking and benchmarking usage trends to create actionable insights for their partners.

For too long there has been a gap in the understanding of those who plan, fund and organise physical activity (movement) opportunities with Alex Burrows, Founder at ActiveXchange advising “after more than decade challenging the status quo, I’m thrilled to announce this partnership to specifically open up critical local usage insights across Australasia, North America and Europe for the community sport, recreation and physical activity sector”.

Since launching in 2018, ActiveXchange has cemented its position as the leading independent, and tech agnostic, aggregator of community leisure, recreation and sport registration data. Connecting this information to other relevant datasets, transforming it into tangible market and business insights (with the expertise of a data science and technology team), so that partner organisations can then better connect with their communities - members, customers, stakeholders, and all tiers of government.

ActiveXchange asks “what about all those facilities and spaces that are critical to the fabric of our active communities, but don’t fit the registration mould?

“Do we really know how well these assets are serving our local communities? And if we are putting the right activity, in the right place, at the right time in order to best engage everyone? And then are we effectively reaching our target residents, knowing where and when they come together?”

Hundreds of thousands of tennis courts, basketball courts, grass and synthetic turf pitches, biking circuits and trails, outdoor gyms, ice arenas, curling and bowling centres – public, private - (and the list goes on) have been built and are then maintained and refurbished at a significant cost and sometimes described as a ‘burden’.

Burrows notes “This is something we obsess about in our day-to-day role at ActiveXchange.

“Our role in the sector is to create trusted data partnerships and champion innovation, which in turn enables our network of partner organisations to reach even further and have more impact.

“Movement data will support so many organisations to take a big step forward, enabling decisions to become more proactive and more objective.”

Movement data is powered by 45,000+ mobile phone apps, on millions of phones each day (600+ million devices globally every month). This data is translated into a movement value (index) for every 100 by 100 metre grid, nationwide, and normalised so as to reflect the profile of the general resident population. This is tracked by the hour, day and month with an 80% correlation between this movement index and economic activity.

ActiveXchange is connecting Movement data to create actionable insights for their partners.

This includes:

1. Monitoring of movement (usage) at any existing facilities and active space location including benchmarking your location(s) with local and national comparators, and informing the planning of potential new locations, to maximise use, impact and investment.

2. Allocation of maintenance resources and proactive decisions to existing facilities and spaces

3. Location planning of events and community engagement programs

4. Re-distribution of demand to maximise networks of assets and capacity (and to protect quality of facilities at key times i.e. grass pitches and water-logging).

5. Knowing what types of facilities work (and don’t work) in different communities and environments

6. Better connecting deprived and marginal communities with the natural and active environment to reduce physical activity inequalities, , and evidencing the relative impact of grant funding

7. Better collaboration with preventative health services, by being able to connect with people where they are already coming together

8. Supporting the evidence behind the commercial value of leases and naming right sponsorship – right down to a club

9. Targeted marketing campaigns to maximise visibility and reach

10. Identification of growth areas and pathways into formal activities and sports, working closer with other local strategic partners

Burrows adds “to get our communities moving more, it’s important to have a birds-eye (SportsEye) view of where and when movement is already happening – and by understanding more about the facilities, spaces and the profile of these communities, it’s possible to use data to also better understand the ‘why’ behind use and activity.

“This then ultimately means we can better understand the need and match this need with the most relevant offer in any given location – building on the focus of the right offer, in the right place, at the right time.”

ActiveXchange continues to validate this data with known registered use, and works closely with a network of partners around the World to embed data intelligence into their own planning, investment and operational processes.

To understand more about the Movement Data Initiative and setting this up for your community, please contact intelligence@activexchange.org