Big Data Analytics for Sustainable Cities: An Information Triangulation Study of Hazardous Materials Transportation

Big data analytics (BDA) is regarded as an advanced tool for achieving sustainable development as part of the grand challenges (GCs). However, it is not clear how BDA can be used by data scientists to solve the GCs with multisource data in a cross-disciplinary approach. Based on a case study of city-based dangerous goods trans-portation (DGT), this paper explores how data scientists use BDA to triangulate data, methods, knowledge and solutions for solving GCs. The contribution of this study is threefold: (1) it contributes to research on GCs and discusses how BDA can be used in problem solving for multidomain GCs from a management perspective; (2) it enriches the theory of information triangulation and proposes several steps for information triangulation in BDA to solve GCs; and (3) it contributes some practical implications for the management of organizations when solving social problems and pursuing sustainable development.