Local authority data goes digital to tackle community issues

28/09/10
'Councils hold huge amounts of data that has the potential to transform the way we all relate to public services if only we could access it.  Through the 'Make it Local' campaign, we wanted to bring together digital media developers and pioneering local authorities to show what could be achieved.  We're delighted with the quality of the applications and really excited about the four winning partnerships.'

Four local authorities have been selected to work with digital media developers to create innovative, web-based services which will benefit their local communities.

The pioneering project, called 'Make it Local', organised by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), aims to help local authorities maximise use of the vast amounts of data they hold. By partnering with digital media developers who understand how to use data, local authorities will have the chance to capitalise on the information they hold to either improve, or develop entirely new services.

The four winning partnerships were selected by a panel of judges, based on their proposals and the impact their project can have on the local community. The winning partnerships, which will each receive up to £30,000 funding, are:

• London Borough of Barnet in partnership with mySociety. The team will develop two projects to link local council data to two existing national websites.  Barnet Council will unlock all data on street-based problems, such as graffiti and broken paving slabs, by linking all of their information with the current FixMyStreet national website.  This will give local residents a complete picture of all issues raised in their area. They will also develop a local government version of TheyWorkForYou, a website which lets the community to keep track of the work being done by their local MP.

•  London Borough of Sutton in partnership with web developer Adrian Short. The team will create 'Sutton Open Library', an online service giving residents instant access to library information such as the availability and location of books and resources held in stock.
  The project will also develop a new resource for community borrowing.  Users will be given an opportunity to register books they own and offer them as a community resource, lending titles to other residents in Sutton.

• Kirklees Council in partnership with Thumbprint Co-operative. The team will build an online community resource called 'Who Owns My Neighbourhood', using land ownership data, where residents can add and discuss information about their area and keep up to date with solutions to local land problems such as fly-tipping. The site will also give locals a say in how green or redundant space can be used more effectively, making it easier for them to request space for projects such as community allotments.

• Birmingham City Council and Digital Birmingham in partnership with Mudlark. The team aims to create a 'Birmingham Civic Dashboard', a social web tool that maps where requests for council services have been made. Residents and the council will be able to use the web tool to see the themes developing from these service requests and the broader issues they illustrate such as graffiti 'hotspots'.

Philip Colligan, Executive Director of NESTA's public services lab, says: 'Councils hold huge amounts of data that has the potential to transform the way we all relate to public services if only we could access it.  Through the 'Make it Local' campaign, we wanted to bring together digital media developers and pioneering local authorities to show what could be achieved.  We're delighted with the quality of the applications and really excited about the four winning partnerships.'

The progress of each winning project will be charted via blogs from each winning authority and developer and can be followed online.

Notes to editor:

For further information please contact Catherine Anderson on 020 7438 2609 or catherine.anderson@nesta.org.uk

Quotes:

Cllr Graham Tope, Sutton Council's Executive Member for Community Safety, Leisure and Libraries, said:  'This is excellent news for the people of Sutton. It will give residents even more access to one of our most popular services, encourage comments and discussion between people borrowing similar titles and develop a new resource of community borrowing.

'The Big Society is all about putting more information and decision-making in the hands of local people. We want to be champions of openness and transparency in order to deliver even greater value for money for our residents.'

Cllr Mehboob Khan, Leader of Kirklees Council, said: "Our project recognises the value of local knowledge and makes it easier for people to do a variety of things - anything from reporting problems to looking after an area of land. We're hoping to find out whether the data is useful to local residents, and to discover new ways of doing things by creating a space in which people can share their ideas. We're asking the question 'Who owns my neighbourhood?' to get people thinking about what personal responsibility they are willing to take for the place where they live, and how they might be able to help each other to look after it."

Simon Whitehouse, Digital Birmingham's Implementation Manager, Birmingham City Council says: "Digital Birmingham is delighted to be developing our Birmingham Civic Dashboard with Mudlark.  It will give us the opportunity to explore the practical use of Linked Data within a local authority, revealing local concerns and issues being raised through our Customer Relationship Management database; but equally we are looking forward to making use of our open data to create a range of conversations with Birmingham residents."

Leader of Barnet Council, Councillor Lynn Hillane said: "We've been working with mysociety to not only make information more accessible but to make it more useable.

At the start of the year, when the council launched its own fixmystreet website, Barnet residents became the heaviest users of the site. This proves that by providing better information, it can lead to more involvement and in the long term, better services."

About NESTA

NESTA is the UK's foremost independent expert on how innovation can solve some of the country's major economic and social challenges. Its work is enabled by an endowment, funded by the National Lottery, and it operates at no cost to the government or taxpayer.

NESTA is a world leader in its field and carries out its work through a blend of experimental programmes, analytical research and investment in early-stage companies.

About 'Make it Local'

'Make it Local' aims to identify how local authorities can maximise their use of open data by working with local digital companies to create innovative services that benefit their community. Applications had to address a specific need identified by local residents, allow users an opportunity to update and augment the data with their own content and use real-time local public data.

The judges for 'Make it Local' were:
- Philip Colligan, executive director, NESTA's public service innovation lab
- William Perrin, founder, Talk About Local
- Emer Coleman, assistant chief executive, Barnet Council currently on secondment to Greater   London Authority
 - Jon Kingsbury, Head of External Supply, BBC Future Media & Technology at BBC
- Olly Arber Head of Digital Media, NESTA