The stories below show how open data has been used to reveal powerful new insights, to develop innovative new services and to identify significant cost savings. We will continue to add new stories that demonstrate the social, economic and environmental benefits of open data.
Spend Network reveals UK businesses starved of £22bn in cash flow by government inefficiencies
ODI startup Spend Network revealed that up to £22 billion of government cash, intended for the UK economy, is delayed by an inefficient tendering system. The company’s analysis of over £1 trillion of EU procurement data showed that the UK’s tendering process is 45% slower than the EU average, and that up to £734 million of the stalled funds could be delayed to UK SMEs each year.
(February 2014)
Show me the money - Peer-to-Peer Lending Businesses Lead the Way in Opening up Financial Data
The ODI's report, Show me the Money provided a comprehensive snapshot of the UK peer-to-peer lending (P2P) market. Using data from the three biggest P2P platforms in the UK (Zopa, RateSetter and Funding Circle) we highlight the regional geography of lending in the UK. This is the first time anyone had published financial data with an open data certificate.
(July 2013)
Open Data Barometer - insight into open data policy around the world
Developed in collaboration between the Web Foundation and the Open Data Institute, the Open Data Barometer offers a useful way to measure how well countries are doing at opening up data. The Open Data Barometer assesses readiness (such as policy context), implementation and impacts, offering a measure of how far the publication of open data is affecting business and society as a whole.
(November 2013)
Prescription savings worth millions identified by Mastodon C
In 2012, Mastodon C worked with the ODI, Open Health Care UK and doctor and writer Ben Goldacre to analyse open data around prescribing patterns of statins across the UK, identifying £200 million potential savings to the NHS.
(December 2012)
ODI reveals impact of London fire station closures using open data
The ODI, working with partner Telefónica Dynamic Insights, developed new tools to assess the potential impact of planned fire station closures in London. The tools allow citizens and policymakers to personally investigate the effects of the plans using open data for the first time.
(October 2013)
Open Corporates - open data reveals global corporate networks
ODI startup Open Corporates created open data visualisations showing the global corporate networks of millions of businesses across the world. In addition, OpenCorporates produced maps which show the world-wide interests of four US banks - Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. They revealed complex and deep networks, as well as the central position that the Cayman Islands have within the networks.
(July 2013)