London Ward Well-Being Scores – 2012 edition (Blog)

October 16th, 2012 by Gareth Piggott

These ward level well-being probability scores present a single combined measure of well-being indicators of the resident population based on 12 different indicators. Users can change the weighting of each indicator depending on how important they see each measure. Scores over 0 indicate a higher probability that the population on average will experience better well-being…

First Release of Census Data

July 3rd, 2012 by Wil Tonkiss

The ONS will release the first data from the 2011 Census on Monday 16th July at 11am. The data will include an estimate of the number of males and females by single-year of age for England and Wales and and an estimate of the number of males and females by five-year age band for local…

Free Data Visualisation Tool from the GLA

June 27th, 2012 by Richard Fairchild

Do you have different datasets for which you’d like to get an overall idea of what they’re telling you but don’t have the time or Excel skills to do it? The Multi-Dataset Index Tool will solve your problems. With data becoming both more central to a wider variety of roles, and also much more widely…

Free London Mapping Tool from GLA

May 23rd, 2012 by Gareth Piggott

Have you ever wanted to create a quick thematic map of London but lacked the GIS skills or software to do it yourself? The GLA Intelligence Unit have created some free mapping tools that allow the user to input their own borough data to create an instant map that can be copied over into Word…

Time of the Week: Ambulance Data from SafeStats.org.uk

March 19th, 2012 by Stephen Forgan

The Strategic Crime Analysis Team (SCAn), in the GLA Intelligence Unit uncover new sources of data about violent crime (often unreported to the police), so to make it more accessible and useable for local services, developers and analysts. This work forms a key part of our efforts to support the open data agenda and encourage…

Using public data to tackle fuel poverty – can you help?

March 13th, 2012 by Victoria Borwick

Fuel poverty affects 560,000 households in London. In those households, people struggle to heat their homes adequately and as a result many thousands of people live in cold homes which put them at risk of serious ill-health, educational developmental delay in children, mental health problems and, for older people in particular, excess winter deaths. Fuel…

Street Crime Data from www.police.uk

February 21st, 2012 by Stephen Forgan

Analysis by Stephen Forgan The Strategic Crime Analysis Team (SCAn) in the GLA Intelligence Unit have been looking at ways to make data on www.police.uk more accessible and useable for local services, developers and analysts. This work forms a key part of our efforts to support the open data agenda and encourage best possible use…

How London Black Cabbie are using Social Media and Data to improve their own performance

November 22nd, 2011 by Guest Blogger

You all know that Black Cab Drivers have a lot to say for themselves, right? Well, a private Twitter account has been giving drivers the chance to tell each other what is going on around the Capital, and has helped turn an idea hatched by 2 drivers in the back of their cabs, into a…

Measuring Happiness and Well-being

November 8th, 2011 by Gareth Piggott

In November 2010, the Prime Minister asked the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to develop measures of general well-being that complement traditional measures of progress reporting such as GDP, in order to better understand the impact of public policy. The ONS are continuing to consult on the headline well-being indicators, and from April 2012 will…

London Fire Brigade to set Twittersphere alight with Bonfire Night tweets

November 4th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

This Saturday London Fire Brigade is set to hold the world’s first live Bonfire Night twitterthon (@LondonFire <http://twitter.com/londonfire> ). You may be wondering why; well, the answer is simple – we’re concerned that the number of fires could rocket this year due to Guy Fawkes night falling on a Saturday. The last time Bonfire Night…

Transport Museum Goes Digital

October 12th, 2011 by Emer

Transport Museum Goes Digital for Thought Provoking Event Sense and The City Our friends in the London Transport Museum wanted us to flag this event. On Monday evening 17th October the digital arts organisation onedotzero will bring together artists and industry leaders from the worlds of art, architecture and advertising to showcase some imaginative digital…

Open Data in Ireland – where are we now?

September 20th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

Fingal Open Data was launched 10 months ago today and became the first Open Data website in the Republic of Ireland. At the time of the launch we looked forward to our site being joined by many more Irish Open Data sites from both Local and Central Government. However, 10 months on, Fingal Open Data…

London gets real-time bus information… at last!

September 12th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

In one of the most significant new data releases of the year, London Buses have this week released live bus departure information for every stop in London on countdown.tfl.gov.uk. This is a beta service to test the system, and users should read the release notes for further details. This release follows the publication of public…

A Lobbying Opportunity for Digital Agencies

August 3rd, 2011 by Guest Blogger

During the process of creating and developing an online community of Creative Agencies, as we have recently at http://siliconjunction.co.uk/, we find ourselves frequently presented with new opportunities to better represent that community – often in ways we hadn’t previously anticipated. One of these opportunities is lobbying. Agencies have already found themselves lobbying for obvious desirables…

The Place Station

July 6th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

People living and working across the capital have fantastic ideas about how to transform their neighbourhoods through social enterprise, but often don’t know where to start when it comes to identifying the premises and support that they need. Where can I find a space to try out my idea? How can I meet and talk…

Opening Up London’s Environmental Data

July 6th, 2011 by Kulveer Ranger

Today marks the publication on the London Datastore of an unprecedented amount of information detailing the state of London’s environment, published as raw data for the first time in the same place. This ‘Green datastore’ covers a wide range of subject areas such as waste, water, air quality, energy and wildlife using statistics published by…

A New Standard Open Data Format for Public Toilets

July 5th, 2011 by Victoria Borwick

The London Assembly has produced a new tool to help improve the availability of data on public toilets, and we would welcome your views. Over the past few months the Health and Public Services Committee has been investigating the provision of public toilets across the capital. We know that many Londoners – especially older people,…

2011 Census outputs update

June 14th, 2011 by Will Victor

At present the full range of 2011 Census products and services have not been consulted on, or finalised, the Office Statistics (ONS) are aware that users need to be kept up-to-date with plans for the dissemination of 2011 Census data as they develop. ONS therefore intends to publish reports relating to the 2011 Census outputs…

Sense & the City – London Transport Museum

May 20th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

1 July 2011 – 31 March 2012 This summer a new exhibition about London opens at London Transport Museum – you could be part of it. Sense & the City explores the powerful new forces that are shaping the way we live, work and travel in the city. GPS, pervasive wireless, sensing, near field communication,…

Can Crowdsourcing Improve Open Data?

May 13th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

What happens when open data is wrong? Can crowdsourcing improve it? Often, open data enthusiasts assume that the next step after the release of some government data is a smart phone app or cool visualisation. I’m more interested in collaborating on the data itself. I’ve been working on a project called OpenEcoMaps and I’ve made use…

Data tales from the Tavern – Greenwich Peninsula an exemplar for future living?

April 27th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

The Fantastic Tavern (TFT) is a meeting of minds online and at welcoming hostelries; a community of brand and agency digital planners & creatives who share insights, expertise, experience and beer. On 14th April 2011 50+ Taverners, some old some new, convened at The Horniman on the Southbank to discuss the hot topic of Digital Government;…

Where’s the loo? Making data on public toilets more widely available

April 21st, 2011 by Guest Blogger

The London Assembly is trying to help improve the quality of data published about public toilets in London, and we would appreciate your help. Over the past few months the Health and Public Services Committee has been investigating the provision of public toilets http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly_investigation/public-toilets across the capital. We know that many Londoners – especially older…

Know Where To Go

April 13th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

Today we’ve launched ‘Know Where To Go‘, an online directory of organisations that provide support services for women dealing with the trauma of violence against women including domestic violence, rape, forced marriage, trafficking and prostitution. The directory includes details of services provided by over 200 organisations across London and was put together in conjunction with…

UKCrimeStats and the Cambrian Data Explosion

April 11th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

Today, the Economic Policy Centre launches a new website, http://www.ukcrimestats.com/ – the country’s first free to view crime-ranking platform for Neighbourhoods, Police Forces and streets with maps, analysis and reports. It has taken many months to develop and brings a number of new capabilities beyond those of the government’s own website, www.police.uk. For example; A unique…

An Open Data Value Chain – Making Data Flowers Bloom

March 31st, 2011 by Guest Blogger

Earlier this month, colleagues from local and central government, bloggers, community activists and developers got together at an event organised by @Madwdata – making a difference with data http://www.madwdata.org.uk/ to discuss how open public data could be used to make a difference. The Making a Difference with Data project is trying to identify what data…

Camden Data

March 29th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

Camden Council is the latest local authority to launch a local data store, Camden Data, at www.camdendata.info, as part of its commitment to transparency. The site launched this month with about 200 datasets, including data that hasn’t been previously published or has been difficult to find on the council and other websites. This is very…

NHS London Data Update

March 19th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

NHS London makes yet more NHS data publically available as part of the government’s Information Revolution. In this latest update NHS London has made available previously unpublished data about the number of stroke patients taken by ambulance under ‘blue light’ conditions direct to a Hyper Acute Stroke Unit. We have also updated data about stroke,…

Hyp3rlocal

March 17th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

The web is a big place and growing rapidly, both in terms of sheer physical size and complexity. Against that backdrop, tools for communicating have never been more ubiquitous or simple to use. The democratisation of content and the explosion of mobile computing has led us to a point where we are always connected and…

New Data Catalogue for Datastore

February 14th, 2011 by Gareth Baker

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have spotted a new menu item appearing in the Datastore navigation recently. The new Data Catalogue page has been set up in response to user requests and contains a link to download the back-end metadata for all packages on the Datastore in CSV format. The file is updated on a…

NHS Information Revolution Continues

February 11th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

NHS London is continuing to make NHS data publically available as part of the government’s Information Revolution. In this latest update NHS London has made available previously unpublished data relating to major trauma, mental health and Londoners’ satisfaction with the NHS. We have also updated data relating to maternity services to include the very latest…

Using Data to Create Distinctive Social Markings

February 8th, 2011 by Guest Blogger

Some interesting stories are beginning to be told through data and infographics. Microsoft (http://obieosobalu.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/infographic-an-overview-of-the-history-of-microsoft-in-the-last-10-years/) Foursquare and Old Spice have all put some useful examples together recently. The great patrons of this art are likely to be the corporations who, just like those of the Renaissance, have the means and the desire to develop their social profile…

Imperial College Launches it’s New Web-Based Service for Patients Undergoing Knee Replacement Surgery

February 1st, 2011 by Guest Blogger

This month in Charing Cross Hospital, West London (part of Imperial College NHS Trust) we launched a new service called myJoint. myJoint gives patients more information and greater control, improving their care experiences and allowing us as clinicians to keep track on how our patients are doing once they leave hospital. We hope that our…

How London Leads the Way in Techno Wizardry

January 18th, 2011 by Anthony Browne

Below is my article in today’s Evening Standard on the London Datastore and impact of freeing London’s data: Help! What should I do? There I was, late for dinner with the Twitter delegation, and the docking station was full so I couldn’t park my Boris bike. I whipped out my iPhone, pressed the bike hire…

Join the debate at London’s Clinical Senate

December 17th, 2010 by Guest Blogger

NHS London has started to make NHS data publically available as part of the government’s Information Revolution. There is a range of views about how data should be published and what is the most important kind of information for clinicians and for patients. The data is available on Datastore and on NHS London’s website here:…

East London Tech City – What do you think?

December 16th, 2010 by Anthony Browne

There has been a good amount of coverage on the recent announcement by the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London on their desire to catalyze investment in east London to transform it into one of the world’s great technology centres. We know that areas like Shoreditch have been incredibly successful, largely without any…

Guess What’s Back? Trackernet Returns

December 14th, 2010 by Anthony Browne

When it comes to freeing the data, we don’t just talk about it – we deliver. We are delighted that Transport for London is today launching its new website area for developers with free live Tube information, showing the location of trains across the London Underground network at any time. It is part of TfL’s…

First Release of Health Data: Driving Choice & Improving Health Outcomes in London

December 3rd, 2010 by Pam Chesters

The information revolution is a defining principle of the vision for the new NHS as outlined in the coalition government’s White Paper ‘Equity & Excellence – Liberating the NHS’. In our push to make Health data transparent and available to the public we have published the first of a number of pieces of Health data…

Update on comments

December 1st, 2010 by Lisa Price

Just to let you know that from tomorrow comments will not be published immediately on the datastore. This is due to a huge increase in the number of spam comments we have received which were starting to clutter up pages and make the site more difficult to use. Please be assured that all comments that…

Changing the City through Pictures alone?

October 28th, 2010 by Andrew Collinge

Yesterday City Hall hosted a Visualising London event. I introduced the day with a challenge that the growing digital visualisation movement has to go way beyond simply delivering beautiful evidence if it is to make a real difference. Of course visual impact will engage, but the intersection of the high art of information design, statistics…

First release of opinion data – telling Londoners what they already know.

September 29th, 2010 by Will Victor

In our push to make the work we do at the GLA transparent and available to the public we have published the first of a number of pieces of our opinion research data on Datastore. The first examples up and running are the 2009 Young Londoners Survey, and 2010 Annual London Survey datasets. These pieces…

Consultation on changes to the oversight of police forces

September 13th, 2010 by Sandy Pacek

The Home Office is consulting on changes to the oversight of police forces in the UK, abolishing police authorities and replacing them with elected individuals. In London, it’s expected that this would mean the Mayor would become the Police and Crime Commissioner and the London Assembly would be responsible for holding the elected Commissioner to…

Update on Trackernet Feed

September 7th, 2010 by Sandy Pacek

We are aware from all the comments on the Datastore blog that there is a lot of frustration in the developer community regarding the restoration of the TfL Trackernet feed. We hope that the recent release by TfL of bus and tube timetables and schedules along with the release of their live message boards and…

McCandless shows the power of intelligent visualisation

September 2nd, 2010 by Richard Walker

David McCandless – driving force behind the Information is Beautiful site, gives an inspiring and thought provoking presentation on how intelligent, well designed data visualisations can help us understand the ever increasing information deluge. Moving quickly through discussions of current affairs topics such as American defence spending versus African debt, to more frivolous endeavours (looking at…

From journalists to interpreters – is data changing the way we work?

August 2nd, 2010 by Guest Blogger

“We will unleash a tsunami of data”. So said our Downing Street contact in the weeks after the election. And so it’s proven to be, from the numbers of civil servants and what they get paid (http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/jun/18/civil-service-statistics-headcount) to the salaries of Westminster advisors (http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/jun/13/government-special-advisers-list). Those would have been enough to keep us happy, but then…

Economic benefits of data release

July 20th, 2010 by Anthony Browne

The new coalition government’s commitment to transparency heralds an exciting time for the possibilities of open data. The data release movement is relatively new and it’s difficult to predict its full economic impact in advance. The US leads the way in encouraging and financially incentivising the software community to develop new apps based on publicly available…

The Story so far………

July 14th, 2010 by Tony Stewart

It’s been six months since the launch of the Datastore, and during this time we have sourced and released over 260 datasets. The current top five popular datasets are: • TfL Live Traffic Cameras• Borough Council Election Results 2010• Begging Incidents Recorded by British Transport Police• Average House Price• Oyster Ticket Stop Locations In return, you’ve created some…

Tube Feed Update

July 1st, 2010 by Lisa Price

Owing to overwhelming demand by apps that use the service, the London Underground feed has had to be temporarily suspended. We hope to restore the service as soon as possible but this may take some days. We will keep everyone informed of progress towards a resolution.

Boost for London’s Software Developer Community and SMEs as TfL lifts all restrictions on commercial reuse of its data

June 15th, 2010 by Anthony Browne

Today’s announcement by TfL that they have lifted all restrictions on the commercial reuse of their data will come as good news to the developer community. There is no doubt that this will provide a welcome economic boost to London’s SMEs and individual developers. And according to Chris MacLeod, Director of Group Marketing at…

Visualisation for Everyone

April 14th, 2010 by Richard Walker

“Every day, every hour, maybe even every minute, we’re looking [at] and absorbing information via the web. We’re steeped in it. Maybe even lost in it. So perhaps what we need are well-designed, colourful and – hopefully useful charts to help us navigate” – David McCandless Author of Information is Beautiful, 2009. London’s datastore is…

The Possibilities of Real Time Data

April 12th, 2010 by Emer

We are looking forward to hosting our seminar The Possibilities of Real Time Data on Monday 19 April and still have some tickets left if anyone wants to attend. Its free so just email mailto:[email protected] if you want to come along. Paul Clarke will be moderating the Twitter Feed on the morning and anyone interested…

Accessible London – TfL Releases its data on London Underground Station Accessibility

March 23rd, 2010 by Emer

The 2012 Games provide a useful opportunity to get people thinking about how accessible/inaccessible London is going to be in time for the games. So the release of TfL Data around the accessibility of stations is extremely timely. Collected by London Underground and represented in 17 different spreadsheets (currently being worked on for upload by…

Redbridge Raise the Bar

March 15th, 2010 by Emer

When people in the public sector talk about open data there can be quite a variance in definition. So it was an eye opening experience to meet with Redbridge Council last week to discuss their approach to data and their proposed participation in London’s Datastore. Chief Executive Roger Hampson is a member of the Local Government…

Data, Data, Everywhere. Now let’s make a difference with it.

March 5th, 2010 by Andrew Collinge

“Everywhere you look, the quantity of information in the world is soaring… Merely keeping up with this flood, and storing the bits that might be useful, is difficult enough. Analysing it, to spot patterns and extract useful information is harder still. Even so, the data deluge is already starting to transform business, government, science and…

Hectic times

February 15th, 2010 by Emer

It’s been a fairly hectic time since our soft launch of the London Datastore on 7th January which featured a live linkup (well mostly live!) with the CES technology conference in Vegas. We were delighted that the launch received such a positive response in both the developer community Mad Prof, Brian Hoadley, Chris Thorpe, Chris…

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