Open data – it's transformational - Public Service

"'Open is the new default', says Gavin Starks. The chief executive of the Open Data Institute is tasked with holding ministers' feet to the fire when it comes to meeting their promises. Francis Maude in the Cabinet Office hasn't convinced everyone about his transparency sincerity when he pledges to create the most open government in the world. But Starks is convinced the UK has taken the lead over every other country when it comes to open data. We are sitting in a "pod" in the ODI's Shoreditch offices, which contain artworks ranging from a vending machine linked to RSS feeds that throws out free packets of crisps, through to a film shown in glorious 3D that observes a geo-magnetic storm, converting data into sculptures and patterns. Quirky art aside, the offices embody openness. Not only do they house the institute's own of staff, but on the same open plan floor are several start-up businesses, each with just a handful of staff, who are at the core of the world's entrepreneurial open data movement. There is a very modern feel to the ODI's working environment. It opened its doors a little over six months ago after being co-founded by World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee. It is the kind of environment that shouts out its eagerness to do things differently. Starks himself has done everything from helping to kick-start Europe's streaming media industry in the late 1990s through to sitting on the government's Energy Sector Board as part of their Midata open data initiative. He has worked for Richard Branson, carried out work on universe mapping at Jodrell Bank, created the environmental data organisation AMEE, and has even released an album as a musician ... One start-up based in the ODI's offices has already helped to identify a £200m potential saving in the NHS through a single data analytics project. Working with a consortium of doctors and technologists including Dr Ben Goldacre, Mastadon C has analysed open prescription data to find out how much different parts of the NHS have been spending on expensive branded statins instead of cheaper generic alternatives – an attempt to chip away at the £20bn the NHS is currently trying to save.   This is just one instance of the ODI bringing together innovators to address core challenges, explains Starks, who adds this particular company is now set to secure funding to turn the project into a business that will move from the first stage of analytics to developing a behaviour change programme for doctors and patients.  There are other examples. HMRC, Defra and the Bank of England have all recently asked for help in using their own data to solve problems. And while things in government don't always happen quickly enough for Starks' entrepreneurial approach, he stresses the level of positive responses the ODI is getting from the public sector.  'The vast majority of the public sector is very eager to engage with us,' he says. 'There is a high level of proactive interest coming from many departments that actively want to make their data open. We do not have to push uphill.'  He has been keen to pair them with start-ups – the 'domain experts'. All the small firms at the ODI currently offer their services directly to government bodies through the G-Cloud procurement framework. And there are benefits to working with SMEs. 'A relatively small number of public sector organisations have the skills in-house to do that kind of development,' he says ... Starks says the ODI has been approached directly by 20 countries asking how to set up an institute of their own. 'The level of interest is astonishing. We are in conversation with Indonesia, in conversation with the White House, in conversation with European countries.'  Partly in response to such demand the ODI developed open data certificates which were launched at the G8. This is the policy instrument, the 'benchmarking tool' that had been missing, he explains.  'The impact of the open data certificates will be that they can help people find, understand and use open data. This will help publishers of data understand how they can connect with the users. Publishing data isn't enough, you have to publish it in a way that connects with the end user.'  The certificates would be a starting point to help governments and the private sector understand what data to publish and how to do it ... But governments still need to make firmer commitment on the release of data, he believes. 'Of all the moments in history to be bold it would be right now. But we could have been much more bold. The whole world is looking to the UK for leadership. Now is the time to be bold.'  He wants the release of core datasets – such as those on legislation, land ownership, crime, the environment, public transport, education performance and more, to be mandatory. His ODI colleague Professor Nigel Shadbolt agrees. Shadbolt, the ODI's chai