The document describes a series of workshops on empowering communities with data technologies for transport. It provides context on big data, including the large volume of data being created and its dimensions of volume, velocity, variety and veracity. It outlines the motivation and objectives of the Big Data Europe project, including establishing data value chains across domains and lowering barriers to using big data. Current activities for Year 1 include a series of societal workshops and setting up interest groups in health, food, energy, transport, climate, societies and security.