Establishing Turnstone asA Government Intelligence Platform

CHALLENGE

Government agencies are facing rising pressure to streamline while the volume of data from operations increases exponentially. Turnstone began as a research project to uncover opportunities in existing data without increasing headcount or workload. Strata advanced this research, transformed proof-of-concept to production-ready, secure platform, and raised Turnstone to the level of trusted government vendor.

LANDSCAPE

• Data chaos. Every city has access to dozens of inconsistent, unsanitized, unreliable, but valuable data sources.
• Brittle production systems. The product started as a collection of powerful research code with zero attention to DevSecOps.
• Untested assumptions. Original models incorporated assumptions about parking behaviour yet to be real-world validated.
• Strategic uncertainty. Turnstone was an experiment without a validated business model.

STRATA’S ROLE: FROM RESEARCH TO REVENUE

Strata was the builder of record, taking Turnstone from concept to operational platform. Our contributions included technical delivery and strategic program leadership:

• Designing secure, cloud-native architecture to scale across cities
• Building automated pipelines, advancing model sophistication, and designing analytical tools
• Embedding governance, privacy, and audit controls
• Conducting research to achieve product-market fit
• Guiding strategy, communication, and execution

OUTCOMES

Over four years with Strata, Turnstone evolved from concept to business, achieving:

• Sustained growth from 0 to 12 customers, each with its own distinct characteristics, datasets, and requirements
• 93% CAGR (cumulative annualized growth rate)
• 200,000+ daily GIS records securely, reliably, and accurately processed
• 10 million citizens served in major North American cities
• Recognition as a trusted intelligence platform for government decision-making