About

This project has been set up to spread understanding about open data and transparency in local public services.

It will show how information obtained from public authorities such as the police, NHS, and local councils can be used by citizens to raise issues, campaign and otherwise influence things that affect local communities.

It will share knowledge about how individuals and organisations can obtain such information, and show how Government policy is encouraging greater transparency and openness by public authorities.

The project is funded by Communities and Local Government (CLG) in partnership with Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands (IEWM) and is supported by the Local Public Data Panel.

What we’ll be doing

The project has developed a number of activities that will be promoted through this site. If you have something to contribute to any of these, share it through our forum or contact us with further information using the links on our Get Involved page.

The project activity includes:

Collecting feedback from elected representatives, citizen activists, and hyperlocal bloggers about the sort of data and information they would like to get hold of from public authorities, but find hard to access. Examples might include information about public health, details of local land/property ownership, and spending by councils and other local authorities on specific services or activities. Feedback will be collected through interviews, case studies and short video or audio recordings.

Gathering examples of good uses of data from public bodies, for publishing on this site. Examples might include cycle accident maps, town or city development plans, crime or transport data visualisation, etc. Six content editors are working to gather, describe and publish links to this material from this microsite. Please get in touch if you know of good examples of data visualisation or publishing that we might reference and link to.

A workshop for bloggers and citizen activists in the West Midlands to inform the information gathering and guidance we are planning to develop around finding and using open data.

A workshop for elected representatives in the West Midlands to inform the information gathering and guidance we are planning to develop around finding and using open data.

Development of guidance material for citizens looking to campaign on a local issue like saving the local library or putting pressure on the authorities over crime or anti-social behaviour or lack of facilities in a particular location.

Recruitment of speakers prepared, on a voluntary basis, to present our material on the benefits of releasing public data at local conferences and events. Development of slides and other material from this project for these speakers.

Securing of speaker slots at key events to promote open data initiatives and open data best practice

A conference on local open data and transparency. This will be an opportunity to present and discuss findings from this project and brief policy practitioners on the challenges and issues around the transparency agenda.