Local Open Data: A perspective from local government in England to help government and companies to develop innovative services through the use of open data and to encourage smart use of Social Media

1. Local Open Data: A perspective from
local government in England
Gesche Schmid
Programme Manager Transparency, LGA
Brussels, 3 December 2014
Gesche.schmid@local.gov.uk, @GescheSchmid
www.local.gov.uk/local-transparency

2. Cambridge 2012
• Why we need Open Data?
• What we can we do with Open Data?
• How to make them available?

3. Brussels 2014
to help government
and companies to
develop innovative
services through the
use of open data and
to encourage smart
use of Social Media.

4. “Opening up is about
sharing
instead of having”
“open by
default, digital
by design.”
what difference
does the use of
open data make to
the people?
So what exactly is this
data that we’re talking
about? What does it
mean? Open data is all
about people…
Developers need
standards and
reliability …
Citizens need stories
Making data ‘open’ is about
understanding its story; how it
came to exist and what it
represents, and then enabling
other people to write the next
chapter.

5. First phase: Publishing open data
• Opening up: sharing instead of having
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Making data available

6. Five star open data model
• Five star open data model after Tim Berners-Lee
★ human readable (pdf), available on the web
★ ★ machine readable (proprietary)
★ ★ ★ machine readable (software independent)
★ ★ ★ ★ linkable (use of open standards and URIs)
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ linked to other data

7. https://certificates.theodi.org

9. Second phase:
standardising data
• Open by default, digital by design
• Developers need standards and reliability
• Local information infrastructures
– Meta data (inventories)
– Classification
– Standards
– Core reference data, URIs
– Schemas
– Ontologies

10. Third phase: Making use of open
data
• Use of data in decision making
– provide evidence based on defined questions
– Analytics: Linking, comparing and analysing
data
– Big Data Analytics: high volume, velocity and
variety information assets
– Visualising data so that they can be
understood

11. Fourth phase:
Engagement with users
• Important is the social perspective; what
difference does the use of open data make
to the people?
• So what exactly is this data that we’re
talking about? What does it mean? Open
data is all about people…
• Digital Social Innovation : What is the
impact on people’s life

12. Open Data Engagement
• Government information and data are common resources,
managed in trust by government.
• A commitment to open data involves making information and
data resources accessible to all without discrimination; and
actively engaging to ensure that information and data can be
used in a wide range of ways.
• Engaging open data should:
★ Be demand driven
★ ★ Put data in context
★ ★ ★ Support conversation around data
★ ★ ★ ★ Build capacity, skills and networks
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Collaborate on data as a common resource
http://www.opendataimpacts.net/engagement/

13. Value of open data
Economic Value:
commercialisation of data
Environmental Value:
sustainable environment
Social Value: improve
peoples’ lives

14. Local Transparency
(England)
• Local government supports a
presumption in favour of
transparency and open data
• transparency fosters greater accountability and
democracy
• ready access and meaningful use of open data
– Innovates and transforms local public services
– Empowers citizen, business, community
groups
• The pace of the transition from closed to open
data is based on local needs and demand
Social, environmental and economic

15. Opportunities for the use of open
data
• Accountability and accessibility (legal)
• Efficiencies (austerity)
• Engagement (internal and external)
• Self service (customer expectation)
• Business and customer insight
• Service integration across organisations
• Innovation (smart cities and communities)
• Economic growth (business opportunities)

17. Local open data
infrastructure
Enable local data to be easily discovered, combined and
compared to make them more meaningful through the use of
common standards.
• common standards, classifications and taxonomies
where they do not already exist (esd toolkit)
• Practical and technical guidance developed by LGA
and LeGSB which sets out some of the principles for
publishing and linking data.
• a local domain on data.gov.uk to provide a common
focal point for sharing and promoting local open data,
common standards, apps, initiatives, case studies, blogs
• local government data and information services (LG
Inform)

18. LG Inform: LGA data service
‘The LGA’s free data service which presents you with up-to-date
published data about your local area and the
performance of your council’.
www.local.gov.uk/lginform

19. Spending data:
Body Name Body Name Amount Pay Date Description 1 Description Bristol City Council http://statistics.data.gov.u @SYMESk /HidA/loRcTaCl-aLuIFthFoEr i&ty /W00IHTHBYWO5O9D0 COMM30U/0N8IT/2Y0 1P2ARETMNPELROSYHEIEP TRAINING COOSRTGSANISATION Bristol City Council http://statistics.da@taS.gYoMv.EuSk /HidA/loRcTaCl-aLuIFthFoEr i&ty /W00IHTHBYW9O6O2D.5 COMM16U/0N8IT/2Y0 1P2ARETMNPELROSYHEIEP TRAINING COOSRTGSANISATION Bristol City Council http://statistics.da1t0a .SgQovU.uAkR/iEd/Dlo cLaIMl-aITuEthDority/00HB 922.5 29/08/2012 EQUIPMENT, FURNITUREN &U RMSAETREYR

20. Spend: budget management
£30,000,000.00
£24,000,000.00
£18,000,000.00
£12,000,000.00
£6,000,000.00
£0.00
Apr
2011
Jul
2011
Oct
2011
@ianmakgill @spendnetwork
Jan
2012
Apr
2012
Jul
2012
Oct
2012
Jan
2013
Apr
2013
Jul
2013

21. www.cipfa.org/Services/Research-and-Statistics/Datashare

22. https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=-Ku9qQk4IGE

24. http://www.directory.devon.gov
.uk/kb5/devon/directory/home.
page

25. Integrated transport and weather information pilot
https://itwip.sunderlandsoftwarecity.com/

27. http://www.leeds.gov.uk/opendata/Pages/L
eeds-Data-Mill.aspx
http://www.leeds.gov.u
k/opendata/Pages/Lee
ds-Data-Mill.aspx

30. Benefits from open data
publication and use
• Councils know what data they own, reduces
duplication,
• Greater opportunity from data sharing and
breaking down silos between departments
• Making data available and using them raised the
profile of data as an asset
• Easier and faster data analysis from standardised
and linkable data
• Greater insight into customer needs and demands
due to better analytics
• Improved skills as people make more use of data

31. Engagement
• But, little take up of the data elsewhere.
• Why?
– People don’t know what to do with the data
– Lack of skills and understanding.

33. Cambridgeshire Insight:
Who uses our information…
Real Estate/Residential
Properties
Consumer
Electronics/Mobile
Phones
Home & Garden/Home
Improvement
51.9% are repeat visitors
Autos &
Vehicles/Motor
Vehicles
Financial
Services/Investment
Services
In-Market
Segments
What data is in demand?
Economy  Employment in the hi-tech community: Cambridgeshire &
Peterborough 2012
 Cambridgeshire East of England Forecasting Model 2013 Baseline
Housing  Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Changes
 Registers of expressed need compared to lettings and sales
 Affordable Housing Completions
 Planning Permission Granted and Housing Completions
 Housing need register applicants parish preference, social rented
lettings and bidding behaviour
Demography  Cambridgeshire Dwelling Stock Forecasts 2012
 Cambridgeshire Population and Dwelling Stock Estimates 2012
 Cambridgeshire Population Forecasts 2012
Transport  Traffic Counts

34. Engagement with citizen
• Awareness Raising –stimulate interest
amongst community organisations
– Ask the question (define the problem)
– Find the evidence: (find and analyse the data)
– Communicate (visualise the data and tell a story)
• Needs different skill set: good communication
and analytical skills
– engagement officer/local library

36. Who is empowered?
• Use of open data empowers people
• but decision makers and political parties
feel challenged!
• Bring them on board and give them a role
as champion for the people

37. Value of open data
• The value of open data is derived through
its use
• To add value…..
promote the use of data through
– digital technology
– stories and engagement