  Very large spatio-temporal lattice data are becoming increasingly common
across a variety of disciplines. However, estimating interdependence across
space and time in large areal datasets remains challenging, as existing
approaches are often (i) not scalable, (ii) designed for conditionally Gaussian
outcome data, or (iii) are limited to cross-sectional and univariate outcomes.
This paper proposes an MCEM estimation strategy for a family of latent-Gaussian
multivariate spatio-temporal models that addresses these issues. The proposed
estimator is applicable to a wide range of non-Gaussian outcomes, and
implementations for binary and count outcomes are discussed explicitly. The
methodology is illustrated on simulated data, as well as on weekly data of
IS-related events in Syrian districts.
