The Open Data Institute is catalysing the

evolution of open data culture to create

economic, environmental and social value.

ODI board
Gavin Starks, Martin Tisn (observer), Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Richard Marsh,
Rob Bryan, Roger Hampson, Sir Tim Berners-Lee
ODI team and associates
Adrian Philpott, Alison Walters, Amanda Smith, Andrea Cox, Anna Scott,
Anneza Pitsialis, Briony Phillips, Bryony Barrass, Carl Rodrigues,
Carlina George, Clara Lewis, David Tarrant, Dawn Duhaney, Ellen Broad,
Elpida Prasopoulou, Emma Thwaites, Emma Truswell, Fiona Smith,
Gavin Starks, Georgia Phillips, Gianfranco Cecconi, Hannah Redler,
Iraia Monteagudo, Jack Hardinges, Jade Croucher, James Smith,
Jamie Fawcett, Jeni Tennison, Joe Packman, Julie Freeman,
Kateryna Onyiliogwu, Kathryn Corrick, Keren Bowman, Leigh Dodds,
Liz Carolan, Louise Burke, Mandy Costello, Michelle Prescott, Patrik Wagner,
Phil Lang, Richard Stirling, Sam Pikesley, Samantha Haines, Simon Bullmore,
Steffica Warwick, Stuart Harrison, Sumika Sakanishi, Tom Heath,
Ulrich Atz and William Gerry
Open Data Institute 65 Clifton Street, London EC2A 4JE Company 08030289
theodi.org
Design and art direction by Adrian Philpott
Production by Phil Lang
Illustrations by Deborah Allwright and Ian Dutnall
Edited by Anna Scott

ISBN 978-0-9927273-2-1

View from the founders

By any measure the past year has been hugely successful for the
Open Data Institute. When the ODI opened its doors, its mission
was to use open data to foster new businesses, transform public
services, enhance policy-making and drive creation of social,
environmental and economic value.
This years report highlights how open data is leading to
improved efficiency, better services and increased transparency,
from retail to education to governance. Open data is creating new
businesses, and better returns for companies of all sizes.
Open data offers an efficient, equitable and energising way of
creating value. But it would be wrong to think that the job of the
open data community is done.
There is nothing inevitable about the continued drive to publish
more open data. There is nothing inevitable about a critical
mass of businesses adopting open data, or of sufficient people
trained in the skills needed to exploit the opportunities it unlocks.
There is nothing inevitable about a sustainable, value-creating
ecosystem emerging.
At the ODI, we must continue to catalyse more supply and
demand, continue to train more people, continue to promote
open data locally, nationally and internationally, continue to
incubate and mentor more companies. We must continue to
develop the right policies and continue to assemble the evidence
and stories that make the case for open data.
We are passionate about open data and its transformative
potential. We will continue to reach out to people and
organisations so that they too reap the benefits of open data.
Sir Nigel Shadbolt and Sir Tim Berners-Lee

From left to right: Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Amy Mather,

Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Gavin Starks
PHOTO: PAUL CLARKE

View from the CEO

We are in a privileged position for a two-year-old company: an
exceptional team (from board to operations), 3.9m income for
2014 with 3.8m secured for 2015, and growing market demand
for our core products of membership, training and services.
Over 100 ODI Members are engaged in demonstrating the value
of open data to their business and their customers. Two ODI
Startup cohorts now employ over 70 people and have generated
over 4m income and new investment.
Over 20 ODI Nodes in our emerging franchise network operate
across 15 countries, and have generated 0.5m in their first year.
This year we trained over 700 people, including our first cohort of
trainers, reached over 500,000 people and held over 80 events.
We have also crystallised our own positioning as an Institute:
our Global Network (members, trainers, nodes) are steering us
to become their professional body. Our Innovation Unit delivers
the services, evidence and R&D needed to create impact,
develops policy and runs our startup programme.
These are underpinned by ODI Core operations, who direct our
strategy and culture, have supported doubling the number in our
team, and manage both our physical and our digital presence.
The ODI must be sustainable and deliver impact. Balancing our
requirement for margin with the need to deliver our mission is
critical. With the support of our team and community, I believe we
have created a strong position.
I am delighted with both the progress of the business, its
direction and outputs, and the role its teams are playing in the
development of open data culture in the UK and worldwide.
Gavin Starks
4

25 years of the web: a timeline of technology,

services and the development of web standards

Highlights of 2014
Promoting the value of open data across the world
With the help of 22 ODI Nodes in 15 countries, we trained diverse
communities to use open data for social, economic and
environmental benefit.
Incubating and accelerating emerging talent
18 businesses that use or produce open data received ODI
mentorship, technical help and office space as part of our startup
programme. The first two cohorts have secured 4m in contracts
and investments while in the programme.
Mapping open data in business
We launched the UKs most comprehensive, systematic
assessment to date of how companies are creating value by
using and publishing open data.
Celebrating open data champions and pioneers
Our first ODI Awards celebrated inspiring innovators, experts and
pioneers in open data publishing, usage and impact. Five awards
shone a spotlight on excellence in business, innovation, social
impact, publishing and on an individual champion.
Paving the way for policy change
To coincide with the 2015 UK general election, our Open data
roadmap for the UK highlighted ways the government can
harness the benefits of open data for improved policy-making.
Helping government procurement benefit from open data
We advised governments and businesses how to use open data
to spot trends in markets and evaluate future opportunities.
Spreading open data knowledge
We held 43 free Friday lunchtime lectures at our HQ in London,
with guest speakers talking on broad subjects, from how
government data portals work, to turning footfall data into music.
6
2014 financials subject to audit

Even more highlights of 2014

Growing the open data ecosystem and our team
We welcomed 58 new ODI Members, 7 Registered Trainers and
8 ODI Startups to our global network. Our ODI HQ team doubled.
Convening world-class experts and innovators
Our 2014 summit drew 400 attendees in person (with 5,000
following online) to hear from, and discuss with, diverse speakers
on the positive impacts they have unlocked using open data.
Certifying excellence in publishing and enabling discovery
Over 10,000 datasets gained an Open Data Certificate, helping
people to publish, discover, use and monitor quality open data.
Challenging people to solve social problems
Prizes of up to 55,000 were awarded to teams with innovative
and sustainable open data solutions for crime and justice, energy,
housing and education. The Open Data Challenge Series is a
collaboration between the ODI and UK innovation charity Nesta.
Celebrating 25 years of the World Wide Web
We reflected with Sir Tim on how the web has evolved into the
billions of linked documents it is today, and envisaged how
billions of open datasets will be linked over the next 25 years.
Sharing open data with millions, far and wide
Reaching up to 20 million listeners, Click by BBC Worldwide
broadcast our summit panel discussion on the impact and culture
of web science, technology and open data coming together.
Exploring data as art and culture
Artworks for our Data as Culture programme were featured at
the V&A and Royal Festival Hall in London, at TEDGlobal in Rio,
Brazil, and via ODI Nodes in Manchester and Brighton, UK.

Income split

Activity split

450K
Research 28%
Training 14%
Projects 11%
Network 47%
dashboards.theodi.org

What is open data?

Open data is licensed by organisations, businesses and
individuals for anyone to access, use and share for any purpose.
Around the world, people are realising the value of open data,
publishing and using it to find innovative solutions to social,
economic and environmental challenges.
Open data is helping governments to make public services
more efficient, improve public trust and boost political
engagement. From the UK to Burkina Faso, Estonia to Mexico,
Japan to Australia, governments are introducing policies and
platforms to open up more data for people to access and use.
Open data is driving innovation and growth by revealing
opportunities for businesses big and small to build new services.
Landmark reports highlighted that by stimulating innovation in
finance, transport, healthcare, energy, education and beyond,
open data could generate trillions for the global economy.
Open data is saving lives, with new open geographic data
and aid statistics being used by humanitarian groups to deliver
crucial supplies in disaster zones. Open mapping data was vital
to disaster response in Haiti and the Philippines, and is helping
to track the Ebola virus in Western Africa.
Open data is provocative, with art and culture programmes
challenging the huge impact of data on society and all our lives.
The open data movement is growing. It is being applied to
enhance the world we live in. We hope you are inspired by the
stories herein and build on them to help solve problems, improve
transparency and stimulate innovation.
theodi.org/what-is-open-data

10

The data spectrum

Transforming global development

Around the world, community groups, NGOs, governments and
individuals are using open data to challenge and improve upon
traditional models of global development.
With access to data and technology, communities in developing
countries are empowered to find their solutions to problems
and hold their leaders to account. In turn, donor countries and
charities can use data to make sure the aid and support they
give is relevant and useful.
We joined forces with the World Bank and Open Knowledge
to form the Partnership for Open Data. It creates and supports
sustainable open data culture in developing countries with
hands-on training, assistance and practical tools.
In Burkina Faso, ranked by the UN as the third-poorest country
in the world, we helped government officials and members
of the open data community to pull together educational data
at regional levels. The programme, Our Schools, Our Data,
is designed to improve citizens access to information about
schools. It also helps government to engage citizens and trains
local communities in software for surveying and editing.
Data Squads in Mexico overcame technical, legal and political
barriers to develop the countrys first national open data portal,
datos.gob.mx, with our mentorship and technical guidance.
With our training, the governments in Morocco and Kyrgyzstan
are now exploring open datas potential in detail.
You can watch a short video explaining the benefits of open
data, with open data case studies from Mexico, Moldova
and Macedonia, and research on how open data can support
sustainable development, all at theodi.org/odp4d

12

Latifa Danfakha of ODI Paris supporting the Open Data Initiative,

Office of Company Records, Burkina Faso
PHOTO: LIZ CAROLAN

Amplifying open data culture: ODI Nodes

Our node franchise brings people and organisations together
to learn, collaborate and promote open data around the world.
ODI Queensland aims to transform the lives of Australians.
We strive to facilitate a thriving open data community through
which challenges are solved, lives are improved, efficiencies
are gained, transparency is enhanced and citizens are engaged.
odiqueensland.org.au
At ODI Seoul were focusing on communicating and
collaborating with communities and developers to expand the
open data society in Korea and create business opportunities.
theodi.org/nodes/seoul-node
Creating the first rural county node is an exciting challenge for us
at ODI Devon. There are huge opportunities to use open data to
develop new projects and services around important rural issues
like environmental protection.
theodi.org/nodes/odi-devon
Being a node has helped ODI North Carolina train people
in open data. We sent our team to ODI HQ for classes and now
have our own ODI Registered Trainer and Friday lunchtime lecture
series. In 2015 we are looking to build a sustainable business
with income from membership and training.
theodi.org/nodes/north-carolina
There are now 22 ODI Nodes in 15 countries providing a blend
of training and developing business networks in their regions.
They also publish open data, collaborate with people in their
communities and build the evidence for open data impact.
theodi.org/nodes

14

The power of networks: ODI Members

A growing network with over 100 businesses, startups and
universities has been creating impact as part of our membership
community. As sponsors, partners and supporters, they all play
a critical role in exploring and unlocking the value of open data.
From reviewing open data policies to discussing ideas over
drinks at events, our members work with each other and with us
to close new business, to create new insights and to innovate.
With Thomson Reuters we created a paper promoting open data
identifiers. With Swirrl we helped design DaPaaS, a new platform
for publishing and hosting linked open data.
GeoLytix published location data openly for UK supermarkets
the first time it has been published in one place.
Swirrl built OpenDataCommunities.org a new open data portal
for the UK Department of Communities and Local Government,
hosting a wide range of datasets including those on local
government finance and deprivation statistics.
Whythawk collaborated with stakeholders in Pakistan to develop
an open data portal that tracks progress in national education,
and trained people on data tools, licensing and management.
You deliver what you promise and then offer more.
The people are great fun too.
Volker Buscher, Director, Arup
The ODI is thought-provoking and challenges us to think
differently about how we work with information.
Keir Fawcus, Managing Director, Precise Media
theodi.org/membership

16

ODI Connect, July 2014, London

PHOTO: PHIL LANG

Spreading data knowledge: ODI Learning

We offer some of the most comprehensive open data training in
the world. We teach people to solve problems, test ideas and use
tools to make open data fun, easy, interactive and rewarding.
Training trainers
As our network of nodes expands, we are helping them provide
open data knowledge that is relevant to their communities.
Our Train the Trainer course produces ODI Registered Trainers
equipped with the skills to teach open data in specific contexts.
Coaching governments, near and far
We advised and trained people in over 25 countries this year on
how to use and publish open data, including at the governments
of Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova,
Kyrgyzstan, Singapore and the UK.
Boosting skills, whatever your background
People from all walks of life come on ODI courses to understand
open data: from policy-makers to web developers, entrepreneurs
to journalists. As trainers, we share our experience in applying
open data across different sectors, from business and smart
cities to journalism and law.
You dont have to be a geek to learn about or use open data.
Whether you love music, politics, art and culture or public service,
you can use open data to innovate and unlock more potential
value in whatever you are passionate about.
Ibrahim Elbadawi, an ODI Registered Trainer at ODI Dubai
Our courses this year included:
Open Data in a Day | Finding Stories in Open Data | Open Data in Practice
Open Data in Public Procurement | Open Data Technologies | Train the Trainer

theodi.org/courses

18

People can make better decisions on how and when

they travel using apps based on open data

What people said

Information can long sit in dusty drawers but it only gains
value when opened up; turning data into jobs, dust into gold.
Neelie Kroes, former European Commissioner for the
Digital Agenda
At least five open data-driven firms that did not exist 10 years
ago now have valuations of more than $1bn.
Oleg Petrov, World Bank
Open data cuts across a number of this years G20 priorities
and could achieve more than half of the G20s 2% growth target.
Martin Tisn, Omidyar (ODI investor)
We needed access to skills, a vision and a critical friend
regarding the value of data, with specific knowledge of linked
data and open innovation the ODI are just that.
Volker Buscher, Arup (ODI Partner)
Data generally, and open data in particular, is changing the
world entirely. People may not realise it, but down in the plumbing
of our modern world, it is data that drives everything.
Blair Freebairn, Geolytix (ODI Supporter)
Attending the Open Data Summit was a truly insightful
experience The conference left me feeling very positive about
open data and excited about the prospect of future problems
being solved through its analysis and application.
Emily Bateman, theblueballroom (ODI Supporter)
To be inspired by data is to be inspired by our world, as more
than ever we experience life through the mantle of data itself.
Julie Freeman, ODI Associate

20
PHOTO: PHIL LANG

theodi.org/courses .

Open data roadmap for the UK in 2015

Open data is a fundamental part of modern policy-making and
the digital transformation of government. It enables more people
to engage with the big challenges we face and help solve them.
We were founded in the UK, where the government has already
benefited from open data with improved policy-making and
social, environmental and economic gains.
With the 2015 UK general election on the horizon, our open
data roadmap sets out steps the UK Government can take to
continue to drive progress in open data:
1. Continue to build a coherent open data strategy
Invest in a data framework: embed open data within a wider
data strategy, handling all aspects of data policy in one place.
Give it oversight and political attention: appoint a Chief Data
Officer to monitor and seek the publication of open data.
Combine policy with delivery: support the Government Digital
Service to develop a world-class data publishing platform for
the public sector to use.
2. Open up more data
Open up: release more important datasets as open data.
Think big: use the National Information Infrastructure as a
framework to plan for the future.
Set best-practice: mandate that government procurement
contracts require the release of open data.
3. Support even more reuse of open data
Commit to data training for government, business and citizens.
Consume open data, dont just publish it.
Connect research and development frameworks to open data.
theodi.org/guides/roadmap
22

Open data is key to the transformation

of government and society

Innovation Unit: Evidence and solutions

Open data is not a niche activity.
By the end of this year we had seen many signs of mainstream
adoption and impact. Our research programme highlights
evidence of the impact of open data so that others can share
the benefits.
Along with partners at universities, research institutes and small
businesses, we have invested in Open Data Monitor to develop
a platform to harvest and analyse open data that is available
across Europe and provide relevant insights to policy-makers,
investors and entrepreneurs.
Covering diverse issues from crime to regeneration, we are
investigating how social media and open data can support
decisions impacting urban areas (project UrbanData2Decide).
With the help of 42 European partners, we are capturing bestpractice across the open data community (project Share-PSI
2.0). With six partners, we are shaping open data publishing
techniques (project DaPaaS).
To help everyone understand where, why and how businesses are
using open data, we launched the first comprehensive research
study looking at open data companies in the UK.
This has already revealed that hundreds of companies large and
small, across the UK, are working with open data. They cover a
diverse range of areas (from legal services to agriculture), proving
that open data goes far beyond the technology sector.
In 2015 we will learn more about these companies and how open
data brings value to their businesses.
theodi.org/research

24
PHOTO: PHIL LANG

theodi.org/courses .

Innovation Unit: Technology, tools and products

Although not quite yet sentient, ODI robots are becoming
powerful and sophisticated. Our Research & Development
programme will develop tools and services that make data easier
to find, use and publish.
Solving the painful parts of publishing
Open Data Certificates have now been localised with countryspecific questions and translations available for the USA, Mexico,
Romania and the UK.
We launched CSVlint.io, a validation tool for CSV files. It has
already shown itself to be useful to those who use it, including
the UK Local Government Association. We have also been
leading the World Wide Web Consortiums CSV on the web
working group, making CSV simpler for everyone to use.
ODI Labs produced a number of interesting prototypes that
help clean, publish and find open data. These include a GitHub
data publishing tool, more tools to show differences in
CSV files and plugging dataset search into the search engine
DuckDuckGo. In future, these experiments will lead to simple
web-based tools that ease the data publishing process and
make data that is released much easier to reuse.
We also launched the discovery phase of OpenAddresses,
an open address database for the UK, free for anyone to use.
2015 will focus our technology strategy, with the formation of an
explicit Research & Development programme within the ODIs
Innovation Unit. We will be pushing boundaries of open data
technology and striving to live up to our vision for R&D:
Evolving the state of the art in open data by creating tools,
standards and techniques for the benefit of everyone.

26
PHOTO: PHIL LANG

github.com/theodi .

Levelling the energy market: Open Utility

Open Utility believes there is a better way to buy and
sell energy. Our vision is a world powered by renewables.
We are creating a peer-to-peer energy marketplace in the UK.
In the 6 months since we have been an ODI Startup we have built
a service to help people who develop renewable energy projects
get the best price for their exported power.
Talking to our customers, weve learned that people are looking
for more control over their energy. If they are a generator,
they want to be able to sell to more than the 31 licensed energy
companies in the UK; they ask Why cant we sell it to the
local school?
Weve built the technology to open up the data, giving energy
users real choice and transparency in deciding where their
electricity comes from. In parallel, we enable renewable
generators to set their own prices and sell their electricity locally.
By using the data from smart meters, generators can sell directly
to energy users, promoting renewable distribution and putting
users in control of their bills.
With the ODIs support we have secured 500k in grant funding
from the The Department of Energy & Climate Change, Nominet
Trust and Climate-KIC. This will help pilot our peer-to-peer energy
marketplace in collaboration with a fully licensed energy company.
We want to give people all over the world access to a fair and
transparent market to buy and sell energy.
Alice Tyler and the Open Utility team
theodi.org/start-ups/open-utility

28
MAP: OPEN UTILITY

Help 999: Pesky People

If you are deaf it takes 20 times longer (up to 20 minutes) for
you to contact emergency services than it does for people with
sound hearing. Texting takes too long when lives are at stake.
At Pesky People, we develop an app called Help 999 that could
cut the length of time it takes to contact 999 to just 20 seconds,
saving resources and lives.
It all started with the Crime and Justice challenge run by
the ODI and Nesta. Winning it opened the door for myself and
my colleagues a group of deaf people to make our idea
a reality. The 5,000 we won gave us the means to develop
a prototype app. This inspired me to keep going and apply to
the ODI Startup programme.
It has been life-changing. It has given us credibility. Ive gained
skills and expertise to take our project forward. It has given
us the opportunity to pitch our ideas to investors. We secured
10,000 in funding based on a 5-minute flash-talk I gave at the
ODI Summit in November.
Building on the work we have done, we are now involved with
a government accreditation scheme that will transform our
emergency services with social media communication.
The backing of the ODI has given me invaluable support and the
determination to succeed.
Alison Smith and the Pesky People team
theodi.org/start-ups/pesky-people

30

Toys for girls and boys: I Can Make

I Can Make is a new type of educational publisher.
Our aim is to encourage girls and boys of all backgrounds to
become the next generation of engineers and inventors.
We do this by facilitating playful learning with 3D printing
and physical computing. We provide resources for teachers
and parents to explore with children how they work.
We were founded in January 2014 and have had a busy year
developing a suite of products for school and home use, from
files to 3D print to teaching plans.
The kits have helped children to understand more about how
things are built. Our customers have told us that the kits bring
structures to life for children, and inspire them to ask more
questions about engineering.
With the help of the ODI, we have been focusing on one area:
the importance of gender neutrality in engineering toys
and play. We believe the world needs more engineers and a
greater gender balance in engineering.
Its therefore important that toys are marketed to children equally.
Girls should have just as much of an opportunity as boys to play
with toys that will inspire them and help shape their futures.
We have been promoting this idea at exhibitions, conferences,
the ODI Summit and more recently at a Friday lunchtime lecture
at ODI HQ in London.
We hope through our work with the ODI to make gender neutrality
in toys and play a reality.
Chris Thorpe and the I Can Make team
theodi.org/start-ups/i-can-make
32
PHOTO: I CAN MAKE

Make &
learn with
3D print

ODI Startup:
icanmake.co

Solving social challenges

We all play a part in shaping society; in how it adapts and
regenerates. Populations fluctuate, technology progresses and
opportunities grow. But with these shifts come challenges that
impact on us and our environment.
We created the Open Data Challenge Series with Nesta to
encourage, enable, incentivise and support individuals and teams
to use open data for social good. The winners are creating real
impact in solving the problems we face, and have each received
up to 55,000 to develop their ideas.
Crime and Justice
CheckThatBike is a search engine that uses open data and
crowdsourcing to help cyclists avoid buying stolen bikes.
Energy and Environment
Community Energy Manager helps communities broker energy
efficiency improvements, for lower carbon emissions and bills.
Education
SkillsRoute is a website that helps young people understand the
options available after GCSEs and choices for their future career.
Housing
MoveMaker is an app that allows social housing tenants to
swipe through properties available to swap and connect them
with home matches.
Upcoming challenges focus on food and heritage and culture:
How can we use open data to help people eat more healthily,
eat more sustainably and/or have a more secure food chain?
How can we use open data to engage more people, and more
diverse people, in UK heritage and culture?
theodi.org/open-data-challenge-series
34

MoveMaker social housing swap app

Open datas pioneers and unsung champions

The ground-breaking, innovative and courageous ways that
open data is being used and published throughout the world
are inspiring whether by governments on the global stage,
pioneering businesses, or committed individuals, they deserve
to be acknowledged, encouraged and promoted.
We held our first ever ODI Awards with that goal in mind.
Through a public call, we invited nominations for outstanding
open data people, groups, governments and businesses.
We brought together judges from across the open data
community to vote for the winners:
Irina Bolychevsky won the Open Data Individual Champion
Award for her role in developing the open government data portal
CKAN at the Open Knowledge Foundation.
Plantwise won the Open Data Social Impact Award for using
open data to reduce crop losses and improve rural livelihoods.
GeoLytix won the Open Data Business Award for building
innovative algorithms and tools to help retailers make better
decisions about where to put their stores.
Shoothill won the Open Data Innovation Award for its
Gauge Map, which provides real-time data on rivers and
flooding across England and Wales.
WikiData won Open Data Publisher Award for its free, linked
database with over 13 million data items that anyone can edit,
and stores structured data for sister projects like Wikipedia.
summit.theodi.org/awards

36

Using open data in disaster response

ODI Summit
In November, 400 business leaders, innovators and open
data experts gathered over two days at the BFI Southbank in
London for the second annual ODI Summit. Between training
sessions, flash-talks, panel discussions, keynote speeches and
conversations over dinner, one central theme emerged.
The summit celebrated open innovation and its impacts across
cultural, economic, environmental and social spheres.
The training discovery day, gave 70 people a whistle-stop tour
of open data with interactive, hands-on and technical sessions
on publishing, data-viz, licensing and business.
Reflecting on 25 years of the web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee told us
about what had inspired him to invent it: that we should all be
able to link information together, whether private or public.
Amy Mather, 15-year-old European Digital Girl of the Year
(Ada Awards, 2013), explained why it doesnt matter who
codes, as long as everyone has the opportunity, regardless
of their age, sex or ethnicity.
Entrepreneur Hermann Hauser talked about innovation in
business, how scientific ideas and breakthroughs make it from
universities to companies and why machine learning is going
to be the most important thing since Turings enigma machine.
People told us the most memorable parts of the summit were
the conversations that happened as they moved through
the day: over coffee, outside by the Thames, surrounded by
the hustle and bustle of hundreds of people. These moments
shape what open data means for us and how we use it to
alter our environment, economy and society for the better.
summit.theodi.org
38

Amy Mather, ODI Summit 2014

PHOTO: PAUL CLARKE

Data as Culture
Art is a vital part of our cultural landscape. It stimulates critical
debate and encourages new perspectives on how open data
is changing our world.
Our Data as Culture art programme explores the wider
implications of the culture of open data, to challenge our
understanding of what data is and its impact on our lives.
Data means different things to different people. To artists,
it can be used as an art material, as something to play with,
to shape, to manipulate, to respond to and transform.
We broadened our collaboration this year, bringing new data
artworks to the London HQ office, FutureEverything festival in
Manchester, and the Lighthouse digital culture gallery in Brighton.
Works by Sam Meech, James Bridle, YoHa, James Brooks,
thickear and Paolo Cirio were exhibited across the three sites.
New commissions included thickears performance work
Pink Sheet Method, James Bridles database-driven
commission The Remembrancer was premiered at the V&A,
and a new online work was developed by Paolo Cirio to explore
personal browser data in Your Fingerprints on the Artwork
are the Artwork Itself.
Our partnership with The Space (a BBC and Arts Council England
initiative) enabled us to commission We Need Us, an online
animation and soundscape influenced by live open data
generated by users of citizen science site zooniverse.org. The
work was previewed at the launch of The Space in the Turbine
Hall at the Tate Modern, London, launched at TEDGlobal in Rio,
Brazil, and projected onto the Royal Festival Hall as part of the
Web We Want Festival.
theodi.org/culture
40

Hack the Space, Tate Modern

PHOTO: PHIL LANG

#LifeAtTheODI
As our core team grows, as members join, as nodes emerge and
as startups move in and on: from summits to lectures, standups
to meetups, the community is enriched by sharing ideas,
knowledge and friendships.
Together, they also shape #LifeAtTheODI.
Our teams love to join training sessions or take their lunch into
our weekly Friday lectures. At our daily 10am standup we hear
from every team member about their objectives for the day (even
at 50 people, this only takes 10-15 minutes). Every fortnight we
hold a half-day whole-team session to drill into key areas, and
every three months we take everyone offsite to reflect on what
we have achieved, where we should be and how to get there.
As a result we feel we have balanced mission vs margin, adapted
to the market and built a great team environment.
Hello
We welcomed Alison Walters, Amanda Smith, Anna Scott,
Bryony Barrass, Carlina George, Clara Lewis, Dawn Duhaney,
Ellen Broad, Elpida Prasopoulou, Emma Truswell, Fiona Smith,
Hannah Redler, Iraia Monteagudo, Jack Hardinges,
Jamie Fawcett, Joe Packman, Kateryna Onyiliogwu,
Keren Bowman, Liz Carolan, Mandy Costello, Simon Bullmore,
Steffica Warwick, Sumika Sakanishi and William Gerry
to the team.
Au revoir
Stuart Coleman, Commercial Director set off for new pastures.
We wish him all the best.
theodi.org/jobs
theodi.org/team

42

ODI team strategy day, October 2014, Bristol

PHOTO: UNKNOWN

Looking ahead: the future is open

Data catalyses change, yet there is still confusion as to how
to use it, and what openness means. We must increase outreach
in both data literacy and demonstrate the impact of open data.
We must support organisations in their journeys from closed
to shared, and from shared to open.
Open data catalyses systems thinking. Companies are already
approaching us to explore openness as a competitive advantage.
Open governments, open cities and regions, open industries
and open research are all in progress. Open collaboration
and open markets are the only approaches that will scale.
As a society, we over-emphasise the infrastructure-led value
in solutions: we are still looking for technology to save us,
when open is a cultural trend, not just a technology. Data and
especially open data will inform policy, manage your daily
decisions, shape design and shape our built environment.
So if data is our raw material, what form does it take in the
physical world: our architecture, our environment, in society?
As the web dematerialises countries and technology
dematerialises into data shadows, how will the crowd focus
and engage to solve local, national and global challenges?
How will our smart cities, the internet of things and the
web of data rebalance state, business, community and
individual agency?
We have a generation growing up in a peer-to-peer open culture.
How will Generation O transform our public, commercial
and personal spaces? If collaboration is at its core, should we
evolve from user-centric design to culture-centric design?
This is a shift of web-scale, a cultural artefact, a shift in our
collective psychological awareness. We are all data now.
44

A smart city is an open city

Partners
Ove Arup & Partners Limited
www.arup.com

BearingPoint

www.bearingpoint.com

BES, Manchester Business School

Telefonica

www.manchester.ac.uk/research/
thomas.kirchmaier

Thomson Reuters Ltd

www.blue-yonder.com

University of Southampton

www.brightblue.org.uk

www.telefonica.com
www.thomsonreuters.com
www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi

Sponsors
BPE Lawyers

www.bpei.co.uk

Blue Yonder
Bright Blue

Building Research Establishment

www.bre.co.uk

Capita

www.capita.co.uk

CarbonCulture

NTT DATA UK Ltd

www.carbonculture.net

Precise Media

www.citadelonthemove.eu

www.nttdata.com/uk
www.precise.co.uk

Socrata

www.socrata.com

Citadel on the Move

CloverETL

www.cloveretl.com

Cogent Analytics

www.cogentdataanalytics.com

Supporters

Companies House

100%Open

CoreFiling Limited

www.100open.com

Adobe

www.companieshouse.gov.uk
www.corefiling.com

www.adobe.com

Ctrl-Shift Ltd

AIDA Technology Ltd

Datactics

www.aidatechnology.com

Aimes Grid Services

www.aimesgridservices.com

www.ctrl-shift.co.uk
www.datactics.com

Deeson

www.deeson.co.uk

Aistemos Ltd

DemandLogic

AMEE

Dialogue by Design

www.aistemos.com
www.amee.com

Amey PLC

www.amey.co.uk

Aplana Software Inc.

www.aplana.com

www.demandlogic.co.uk
www.dialoguebydesign.co.uk

Digi2al Limited

www.digi2al.co.uk

Digital Integration
Technology Limited (DigIn)

Applied Works

www.digin.co

Association of Convenience Stores

www.doorda.com

BaleFire Global LLC

www.emapsite.com

www.appliedworks.co.uk
www.acs.org.uk

www.balefireglobal.com

46

Doorda

emapsite

Epimorphics Ltd

London Business School

Esri

Marklogic UK Ltd

eSynergySolutions

Mastodon C

www.epimorphics.com
www.esri.com
www.esynergy-solutions.co.uk
cloud-and-big-data

F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

www.roche.com

FlyingBinary Limited
www.flyingbinary.com

GeoLytix

www.geolytix.co.uk

Hartree Centre, STFC

www.stfc.ac.uk/hartree/default.aspx

www.faculty.london.edu/gvahn
www.marklogic.com

www.mastodonc.com

Merck Sharp & Dohme

www.msd.com

Model Futures

www.modelfutures.com

Moneysupermarket.com

www.moneysupermarket.com

Mydex Data Services Community

Interest Company
www.mydex.org

Horizon Digital Economy

Research Institute, University
of Nottingham

National Institute for Health Research

Clinical Research Network

HS2

www.oasislmf.org

www.horizon.ac.uk

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/
high-speed-two-limited

IMAGES&Co Ltd
www.images.co.uk

import.io

www.import.io

Informed Solutions
www.informed.com

IRICSS

www.iricss.org

Kiln Enterprises Ltd

www.kiln.it

Kings College London

www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/cmci/people/
academic/cote/index.aspx

Land Registry

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/
land-registry

License Direct

www.licensedirect.com

LiST

www.li-st.com

Lockheed Martin

www.civil.lockheedmartin.co.uk

Lokku

www.opencagedata.com

48

www.crncc.nihr.ac.uk

Oasis Loss Modelling Framework

OCSI

www.ocsi.co.uk

Onepoint IQ Limited
www.onepointiq.com

Ontotext AD

www.ontotext.com

OpenCorporates

www.OpenCorporates.com

Optimity Matrix

www.optimitymatrix.com

Ordnance Survey

www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Queen Mary University of London

www.maths.qmul.ac.uk

RateSetter

www.ratesetter.com

Redlink

www.redlink.co

RM Education

www.rmresults.co.uk

Royal Statistical Society

www.rss.org.uk

SamKnows Limited

www.samknows.com

@napo

ScraperWiki

The Server Labs

Sibdocity

theblueballroom

Sirius Corporation Ltd

Thwaites Communications

Snips

Transactis

Software for Data Analysis

UK Green Building Council

Swirrl

University of Aberdeen

Syngenta

University of Cambridge

Systems in Context Ltd

University of Oxford

Taipei Computer Association

White October

The Audience Agency

Whythawk

www.scraperwiki.com
www.sibdo.com
www.siriusopensource.com
www.snips.net

www.sda-ltd.com
www.swirrl.com

www.syngenta.com
www.systemsincontext.co.uk
www.tca.org.tw

www.audiencefinder.org

The City of Edinburgh Council

www.theserverlabs.com
www.theblueballroom.com
www.thwaitescommunications.co.uk
www.transactis.co.uk
www.ukgbc.org

www.abdn.ac.uk
www.cam.ac.uk
www.ox.ac.uk

www.whiteoctober.co.uk
www.whythawk.com

Yelp

www.edinburgh.gov.uk

www.yelp.com

The Market Research Society

Zizo

www.mrs.org.uk

www.zizo.co.uk

The Open University

www.open.ac.uk

directory.theodi.org/members
theodi.org/join-us

50
PHOTO: JOE PACKMAN

theodi.org/lunchtime-lectures .

ODI Node directory

ODI Nodes contribute to the local, national and international
development of open data. They develop and deliver training
to build capabilities, connect people and businesses through
membership and events and communicate stories and catalyse
the adoption of standards, tools and processes.
ODI Amsterdam
ODI Athens
ODI Brighton
ODI Buenos Aires
ODI Chicago
ODI Devon
ODI Dubai
ODI Gothenburg
ODI Hawaii
ODI Leeds
ODI Manchester
ODI Moscow
ODI North Carolina
ODI Osaka
ODI Paris
ODI Philadelphia
ODI Queensland
ODI Rio de Janeiro
ODI Seoul
ODI Sheffield
ODI Toronto
ODI Trento
theodi.org/nodes

52

1st cohort of ODI Registered Trainers

with Gavin Starks (4th from left)

ODI Startup directory

The ODI Startup programme is open to any startup business
that uses and/or produces open data.
Each year we welcome new applicants into the programme and
support them in developing a sustainable business. We assess
applications based on their ideas, team, market opportunity and
timing, potential scale and how they address a triple bottom line:
creating positive social, environmental and economic impact.
2nd cohort

1st cohort

3D Repo Ltd

CarbonCulture

I Can Make

Demand Logic

DataPress

Honest Buildings

OpenDataSoft

Locatable

Open Utility

Mastodon C

Opensensors.io

Open Bank Project

Pesky People

OpenCorporates

Resurgence

Placr / TransportAPI

theodi.org/startups/3d-repo-ltd
theodi.org/startups/i-can-make
theodi.org/startups/datapress
theodi.org/startups/opendatasoft
theodi.org/startups/open-utility
theodi.org/startups/opensensorsio
theodi.org/startups/pesky-people
theodi.org/startups/resurgence

theodi.org/startups/carbonculture
theodi.org/startups/demand-logic
theodi.org/startups/honest-buildings
theodi.org/startups/locatable
theodi.org/startups/mastodon-c
theodi.org/startups/open-bank-project
theodi.org/startups/opencorporates
theodi.org/startups/placr

Provenance

theodi.org/startups/provenance

Spend Network

theodi.org/startups/spend-network

54

weneedus.org by Julie Freeman,

commissioned by The Space and the ODI

Illustrations by Deborah Allwright & Ian Dutnall

P19. People can make better decisions on how and when they
travel using apps based on open data.
P37. Open data can help us plan for and address the effects that
climate change is having on our environment.
P45. A smart city is an open city.
Illustrations by Ian Dutnall
P5. 2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web.
Since its creation, web technology, services and web standards
have helped build a world of knowledge for everyone.
P23. The ODIs Open data roadmap for the UK sets out
steps the government should take to drive progress, including
appointing a Chief Data Officer and using the National
Information Infrastructure as a framework to plan for the future.
P35. MoveMaker helps social housing customers swap rented
property or find suitable accommodation in their communities.
P57. Starting to think about, publish and work with open data
is easy. This checklist will point you in the right direction.
Illustrations copyright 2015 Open Data Institute

P58-59. ODI Data as Culture artworks

Clockwise from top left: Invisible Airs (2011) by Yoha
Watching the Watchers (2013) by James Bridle
We Need Us (2014) by Julie Freeman
8 Hours Labour (2013) by Sam Meech

56

Open data checklist

theodi.org/culture.

ODI Nodes
ODI Training Node
Where weve trained
Where weve presented
Data project

theodi.org/get-involved .