Page 41 - TLU magazine - The Way to The Top

a new level for
ANALYSINGMOVEMENT
People's mobility between and within countries has risen at an ever-increasing rate. The Univer- sity of Tartu, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn University and Statistics Estonia are developing data infrastructure IMO to carry out integrated mobility research, starting from emigration to the everyday movements of people.
The IMO (Information Technology Mobility Observatory) project is led by Professor Allan Puur from the Centre of Estonian Demographic at Tallinn University.
There are two main motives for launching the IMO. Firstly, the increase of migration and mo- bility. Secondly, the existing data is no longer sufficient for a modern study of migration and mobility.
Allan Puur explains that there are various data- bases on migration and mobility in Estonia, but they have not been harmonised and integrated longitudinally, geographically and across sec- tors.
Personalised data
The core of the IMO is made up of personal data from the last three censuses and the state's central databases.
They have been used in the past but mostly as isolated elements. Allan Puur explains that the purpose of the IMO is to make different types of data personally connectable. This will allow for a new quality and longitudinal analysis of both international and domestic migration.
For example, people coming and going as well as birth rates and mortality. Also, the partici- pants in these processes (gender, age, education, nationality, etc.) and people's various activities, such as studying, working, etc.
An important component, however, is the unique mobile positioning database of people's daily mobility in Estonia, which is being devel- oped by the University of Tartu.
What exactly does Tallinn University do?
Tallinn University's first major work on the IMO project was the harmonisation of the data of three censuses. An important part of this was the earlier work of the Centre of Demography, which included the identification of persons using the latest census archive material and registers of the Soviet Union.
"This allows linking this data to all subsequent data sets and analysing population processes (including migration) since the late 1980s," Puur explains.
Currently, Tallinn University's researchers are waiting for a basic extract of the population register, which will include all persons and their life events and relationships registered over time. It does not only include the 21st century, but dates back nearly a hundred years. It will certainly take at least a year to inspect and orga- nise the material before serious analytical use.
The project "Information Technology Mobility Observatory (IMO)" runs from 1 January 2016 to 31 August 2020. The financial volume is €773,660. It is led by the University of Tartu. Tallinn University, Tallinn University of Technology and Statistics Estonia
are involved. The collaborator from Tallinn University is the Centre of the Estonian Demographic of the
Institute of Social Sciences.
Further information: www.imo.ut.ee
Research communication specialist Kertu
Kula
TALLINN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE / NO. 14 / SPRING 2020
41