My research focuses on large scale data integration and analysis to support decision making in complex scenarios. I am currently leading the MK:Smart project, a £16M flagship initiative which aims to tackle key barriers to economic growth in Milton Keynes through the deployment of innovative data-intensive solutions in the energy, transport and water management sectors. I am also working on Rexplore, a novel environment for exploring and making sense of scholarly data, which leverages innovative techniques in large-scale data mining, semantic technologies and visual analytics. In addition to my main position at the Open University, I am also Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, which is ranked as the top journal in HCI by both Microsoft Academic Search and Google. Over the years I have advised strategic research boards and governments in several countries, including UK, US, The Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Finland, and Estonia. Currently I am contributing to the Data and Analytics Task Group of the Smart Cities Forum which has been set up by the Office for Science.