Policy paper

G8 Open Data Charter: UK Action Plan 2013

Published 1 November 2013

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

1. Introduction

Transparency is an idea whose time has come. People around the world are demanding much greater openness and accountability from their governments. Citizens are demanding that the state should be their servant, not their master, and the information that governments hold should be open for everyone to see.

Data has become a real currency that provides value for its creators, users, consumers and its re-users. It has become a recyclable property that not only connects government and the work it does with its citizens and industries, but also provides:

• greater clarity over government actions, spend and decision making as a means for government to be held to account
• details on performance of public services which through analysis can identify options for improving services, and which can transfer power into the hands of citizens to help them get the best out of these services
• a catalyst for innovation and a fuel to drive economic growth through new data driven products and services

As at October 2013 there had been more than 10,000 datasets released and listed on our central data portal data.gov.uk giving us the most comprehensive data resource of its type in the world. The UK’s own ambitious open data agenda has progressed rapidly over the last few years supporting the Prime Minister’s ethos that the UK will be ‘the most transparent government in the world’.

As we realise the Prime Minister’s ambition, we want open data to be part of a platform for independent collaboration by citizens, civil society, private companies and public servants.

Transparency, participation and accountability provide the essential foundation for economic, social and political progress by increasing the openness of institutions and public processes while maintaining and respecting the privacy of individuals.

To deliver this vision, we will focus on:

• ensuring better quality and a higher quantity of open data is released from government into the hands of citizens and businesses
• working with departments to prioritise open data requests and influence policies to secure their release, and maintain data.gov.uk as the world’s leading government data portal
• bringing the power of open data to a wider audience through working to make open data more accessible to all users
• helping developers create transformative open data applications, and increase the profile of open data and the government’s reforms
• maintaining Britain’s position as a global leader on open data
• supporting strengthening of the Open Government Partnership as a platform for open government reformers around the world, and work to provide an international centre of excellence and sharing best practice

In the Open Data White Paper published in June 2012, the government set out both that there should be a “presumption to publish” data; and Open Data Principles for public service. This was reinforced through the G8 Open Data Charter (June 2013), which set out the first of its 5 principles as ‘open data by default’.

Each of the 5 principles is underpinned by action oriented agreements. The cultural change required will be varied across our public services. It will be difficult to achieve for some organisations, particularly where important datasets are currently charged for and organisational business models are reliant on this revenue, or where a dataset contains data that is not owned by government.

Drawing on the 5 principles and their underpinning actions, the Charter included 3 collective actions that all member countries agreed to:

• develop a country specific G8 National Action Plan setting out how we will implement the Charter and on which we will report annually
• release high value data identified in 14 high categories; this plan sets out our progress to date and establishes timelines for release of further or better relevant data in the future
• map metadata through maintaining the G8 metadata mapping exercise

This action plan draws together the future work we will undertake through the following 6 commitments:

1. We will release, publish and enhance the 14 key and high value datasets identified in the G8 Open Data Charter.
2. We will work to ensure that all datasets released are published via our national data portal data.gov.uk.
3. We will engage with civil society organisations and the public to identify which datasets would best be prioritised for release.
4. We will support open data innovators at home and abroad through sharing experiences and tools.
5. We will set a clear forward direction for open data work in the UK.
6. We will create a National Information Infrastructure of government data.

These commitments and plans for delivery are detailed below and the action plan will be subject to ongoing reporting to ensure that progress is being made against the 6 commitments above and in turn the agreed principles. The main progress reporting will be done through the G8 in June 2014 and June 2015.

UK Commitment 1: We will release, publish and enhance the 14 key and high-value datasets identified in the G8 Open Data Charter.

2. Key datasets

Dataset	Current availability	Planned availability (accessibility and granularity)	To be completed by
National statistics	Published	Work is ongoing with the Office for National Statistics to improve the accessibility of data through data.gov.uk.	December 2014
		Maintain quarterly publication of crime and justice statistics, and introduce quarterly statistics from coroners.	From 2013
National maps	Ordnance Survey (OS) publish a number of products that are available under open licence; however more detailed mapping services are only available for a charge or under a commercial licence.	There remains continued interest in the availability of more detailed Ordnance Survey data. Ordnance Survey is due to provide a roadmap for further open data releases by the end of the 2013.	December 2014
National elections	There are a number of national election results published at present, however the format is inconsistent, copyright is applied which limits reuse, and data does not go down to a local level.	Further engagement with the independent Electoral commission on their future plans will commence in winter 2013.	April 2014
National budgets	Data is currently regularly published freely under open government licence as part of the COINS and OSCAR datasets.	Introduction of a new common chart of accounts will provide better comparability across central depts. Additionally GIST, a tool developed by the Government Digital Service in conjunction with HM Treasury, is allowing the data to be better understood. GIST development is on-going and will be adapted to reflected feedback from current users.	From April 2014

3. High-value datasets

The UK already publishes a number of datasets within the high value dataset categories listed in the G8 Collective Action Plan. We will be working with departments and public bodies to make more available through the National Information Infrastructure. Below are examples of the range of data the UK is publishing. Much of this data is available under the Open Government Licence (OGL) and in non-proprietary formats; however there may be some data that currently is only available in a proprietary format or in a quasi-open format.

G8 data category	Example dataset	Licence	Format	Further activity	To be completed by
Companies	Company register	Open Licence	Proprietary format	Free bulk accounts data product to be published. Work to establish a public register of beneficial ownership of UK companies.	Free bulk accounts data product to be released 31 Oct 2013.
Companies	Insolvency and bankruptcy	OGL	Proprietary format	Work is taking place to ensure publication in an open data format is the default	-
Crime and Justice	Crime statistics	OGL	Open format	On-going development of functionality	On-going, see change log
Crime and Justice	Justice statistics on national portal & Justice statistics	OGL	Various	CO, MOJ and Crime and Justice Transparency Sector Panel work to prioritise as part of NII.	-
Crime and Justice	Cost of organised crime	OGL	Open format	HO will publish under Open Government Licence and in open format.	2013
Crime and Justice	Statistics on immigration and citizenship	OGL	Open format	CO, MOJ and Crime and Justice Transparency Sector Panel work to prioritise as part of NII	-
Earth Observation	Weather observations	OGL	Open format	The Public Weather Service Customer Group is working with the Met Office to expand their already substantial portfolio of open data by increasing access to historic weather observations. This has taken a phased approach; to increase awareness of what is already available; to gather additional requirements for an online portal that will include access to a National Archive place of electronic deposit – the Nation’s memory of weather – that would make this medium to long term solution suitable for use and re-use by the open data community.	The first phase is now complete and work is continuing on phase 2, with options for the National Archive expected to be developed by spring 2014.
Education	National Pupil Database	Other	Proprietary format	Pilot allowing parents to access their child’s data and compare against other anonymised aggregated data	2014
Education	Free school meals	OGL	Proprietary format
Education	Exclusions	OGL	Open Format
Education	Home to school travel	OGL	Proprietary format
Education	Achievements and attainment	Various	Proprietary format
Energy and Environment	Pollution, Emissions and Air quality	OGL	Proprietary
Energy and Environment	Waste	Various	Various	Data on waste is collected by Local Authorities and the Environment Agency
Energy and Environment	Planning applications statistics	OGL	Open
Energy and Environment	Energy consumption	OGL	Proprietary
Finance and Contracts	Departmental budgets, spending and forecasts	OGL	Open	Departments to continually improve plain English descriptions
Finance and Contracts	Opportunities, tenders, contracts & construction project pipeline	OGL	Open	Subject to technical capability, enhance the scope, breadth and usability of published contractual data on the Contracts Finder system.	2014
Finance and Contracts	Local authority budgets, spending and grants	Various	Various	There is work ongoing to ensure the availability of local government data on data.gov.uk.	April 2014
Geospatial	Maps	Various	Proprietary format	Where there are barriers to release, it is being investigated as to whether the data can be released in an open data format. Otherwise work is taking place to ensure publication in an open data format is the default.
Global Development	Development and aid	OGL	Open format	DfID have complied with this commitment. Other government departments who spend money on Overseas Development Aid are working towards compliance.	All government departments to be compliant with this commitment by 2015
Global Development	UK overseas development assistance	OGL	Open format	DfID have complied with this commitment. Other government departments who spend money on Overseas Development Aid are working towards compliance.	All government departments to be compliant with this commitment by 2015
Government accountability and democracy	Departmental structures, senior staff names, salaries and contact details	OGL	Open	Departments continue to publish organograms every 6 months.	Ongoing
Government accountability and democracy	Hospitality, gifts, expenses and travel for senior officials	Various	Various	Departments continue to publish hospitality, gifts, expenses and travel data for senior officials	Ongoing
Government accountability and democracy	Legislation	OGL	Open
Government Accountability and Democracy	Local elections	Other	Various
Health	NHS reference costs	OGL	Open format	Historic cost reference data back to 1997, previously only available by written request, and received on CD, will now be available on data.gov.uk	Dec 2013
Health	Prescription data	OGL	Open format
Health	Data about General Practioner (GP) practices (ie Doctor/Primary Care) for example numbers of Patients Registered at a Practice	OGL	Open format	Data published will be broadened to include quality of care provided by GP practice and associated health outcomes.	Winter 2013
Health	Friends and Family Test	OGL	Open format	Programme that asks patients whether they would recommend the hospital services they used to friends and family requiring care. Broaden to cover all NHS Services.	March 2015
Health	Clinical performance, for example National Oesophago-gastric Cancer Audit	OGL	Open format	Make data available on surgeon level data, from national clinical audits, across 10 specialities and extend the programme to new treatment and conditions.	2014
				For 10 new clinical areas (including cancer, children’s services, mental health and stroke) overarching measures that tell the public how well services are performing and meeting their needs will be made available.	During 2014 and 2015
Science and Research	UK Data Archive - partly funded by ESRC	Various	Proprietary format	The Data Archive is for Social Sciences and Humanities data. There is work taking place in the scientific community to generate standards and practices for open research data to allow for storage that improves its interoperability and linkage.
Statistics	National statistics	OGL	Various
Statistics	Census	OGL	Various
Social Mobility and Welfare	Housing benefit	OGL	Proprietary
Social Mobility and Welfare	Housing stocks	OGL	Proprietary
Social Mobility and Welfare	Labour Market Statistics	OGL	Proprietary format
Transport and Infrastructure	Rail timetables, NationalRail (login required)	Various	Proprietary formats
Transport and Infrastructure	Real Time Rail Performance (login required)	Various	Proprietary formats
Transport and Infrastructure	Traveline National Dataset	OGL	Open format
Transport and Infrastructure	National Coach Services	OGL	Open format
Transport and Infrastructure	National Passenger Survey	OGL	Proprietary format
Transport and Infrastructure	Bus Passenger Satisfaction Survey	OGL	Proprietary format
Transport and Infrastructure	Rail safety	OGL	Proprietary format
Transport and Infrastructure	Road accident data	OGL	Proprietary format
Transport and Infrastructure	National Public Access Transport Nodes (Department for Transport)	OGL	Open format
Transport and Infrastructure	National Public Transport Gazetteer (Department for Transport)	OGL	Open format
Transport and Infrastructure	Rail Network Inspire Data (Department for Transport)	OGL	Open format
Transport and Infrastructure	Road network Inspire data (Highways Agency)	OGL	Open format
Transport and Infrastructure	Car Parks (Department for Transport)	OGL	Open format
Transport and Infrastructure	Streetworks (Highways Agency)	OGL	Open format
Transport and Infrastructure	Cycle Routes	OGL	Open format
Transport and Infrastructure	Air Travel	OGL	Proprietary format	The Civil Aviation Act extended the powers of the Civil Aviation Authority to cover collection of data on service quality and passenger experience issues.	From Dec 2013 following completion of consultation
Transport and Infrastructure	MOT data	OGL	Proprietary format	Following the completion of public consultation Motoring Agencies will publish further data about MOTs.	June 2014
Transport and Infrastructure	Bulk Vehicle Data	OGL	Proprietary format	Motoring Agencies will commence a public consultation regarding the release of bulk vehicle data in early 2014 and subject to the result of the consultation identify a data release as a result	End 2014 subject to consultation
Transport and Infrastructure	Bus Registration Data	OGL	Proprietary format	The summary record of each bus registration (new, variation, cancellation) published in the Traffic Commissioner Notices and Proceeding.	March 2014
Transport and Infrastructure	Transport Accessibility Data	OGL	Proprietary format	Public transport accessibility files containing details of rail stations, bus services and unsuitable stops.	Dec 2013

UK Commitment 2: We will work to ensure that all datasets released are published via our national data portal, data.gov.uk.

Data.gov.uk will be refreshed to incorporate new base coding and a new design to allow for easier discovery of content by October 2013.

We will undertake a metadata mapping exercise across UK government ‘corporate’ data and establish standardised common vocabulary for use in dataset publication by June 2015.

We will create a data dictionary to ensure consistent use of vocabulary in metadata going forward by June 2015.

We will comprehensively review the way that health data is made available through data.gov.uk to create a well organised channel with consistent metadata and descriptors by 2015.

We will refresh departmental profiles on data.gov.uk that will set out clearly existing commitments to release data, including a user friendly publication schedule. The improved profiles will act as a real time assessment of the delivery of each department by 2015.

UK Commitment 3: We will engage with civil society organisations and the public to identify which datasets would best be prioritised for release.

The UK government will work in partnership with the Civil Society Network to produce the Open Government Partnership UK 2013 National Action Plan to support the open government agenda by October 2013.

We will create a National Information Infrastructure by October 2013 (see UK Commitment 6) - the process for which including public engagement.

We will develop a strategy for wider engagement to drive the release, publication and use of government data by December 2013

UK Commitment 4: We will support open data innovators at home and abroad through sharing experiences and tools.

The UK government will review and expand the current information guides available on data.gov.uk to explain UK open data initiatives by Dec 2015.

Data.gov.uk will launch a concept package ‘Data.gov.uk ToGo’ that will allow others to quickly establish a data portal of their own by October 2013.

We will create a shared space for the NHS to publish their experiences of embedding high quality standards into information by October 2013. We will then build on this through engagement with other countries and civil society organisations, to develop an accreditation scheme so that other countries and organisations are able to assess their progress, supported by peer review via the virtual network by Autumn 2014

UK Commitment 5: We will set a clear forward direction for open data work in the UK.

All government departments will refresh their departmental Open Data Strategies by June 2014.

UK government will develop and deliver an open data roadmap based on supporting the enhancement of the National Information Infrastructure (see Commitment 6) by Dec 2014.

We will implement open data commitments as set out in the Open Government Partnership UK National Action Plan 2013.

UK Commitment 6: We will create a National Information Infrastructure of Government data.

On 31 October 2013, the UK will launch a National Information Infrastructure (NII) that will take our open data work to a whole new level. This will be a world first in terms of scope, content and ambition. This development covers all aspects of the G8 principles and all high value dataset categories.

The NII will contain the data held by government which is likely to have the broadest and most significant economic and social impact if made available and accessible outside of government. The NII will, by its very nature, be a living infrastructure that will grow over time.

Departments will provide release dates for datasets in the first iteration of the NII, where there are no barriers to publication, and, where there are barriers, provide an explanation for non-publication by December 2013.

Departments, including their arm’s length bodies, will ensure that their list of unpublished datasets is comprehensive by March 2014.

Departments will ensure that they make public their assessment of the impact of the release of datasets by June 2014.

Departments should put all their datasets currently available under the Open Government Licence through the Open Data Institute’s open data certification process and make the outcome available through data.gov.uk by December 2014.

Cabinet Office will work with departments and ALBs to more broadly disseminate best practice in relation to the release of open data and to highlight examples and models of moving from charged data to open data by December 2014.