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Case studies

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Our case studies describe some of our research and commercial projects, exploring the use of open and shared data across sectors and topic areas

ODI projects: case studies

Find out how we have explored the use of open and shared data across a variety of research and commercial projects, from agriculture and health research, to data ethics and ecosystem mapping.

Blog, Case study 06/08/2020
Case study: Unlocking data on brownfield sites
- Built environment and housing
There are over 1.1 million households in England on the social housing waiting list, even though there is enough brownfield land to build an estimated 1 million homes. Engineering and design consultancy company Atkins have been identify how well currently open datasets can support developing insights into contamination of brownfield sites
Blog, Case study 06/08/2020
Case study: Creating a standard to help people find construction knowledge
- Built environment and housing
- Data infrastructure
Barbal is creating open standards for data to create a shared way of publishing construction knowledge so that construction knowledge becomes discoverable
Blog, Case study 06/08/2020
Case study: Creating a digital version of a city
- Built environment and housing
The ‘Breathing City’ project is demonstrating how the use of open data can create a digital version of a city, i.e. a digital twin, to improve the wellbeing and safety of urban populations and provide valuable insights to educate society on the impact of pollution
Blog, Case study 10/07/2020
We've been working with the City of Coventry to explore how data is being used
- Data ethics and privacy
- Public service design
- Cities
- James Maddison
Our team has been working with representatives from the City of Coventry to explore how data is being used in their city, how this affects citizens, and to uncover new opportunities
Case study (private sector) 16/04/2020
Case study: The value of sharing data for improving market reach
- Data publishing and use
- Health and physical activity
- James Maddison
- Josh D'Addario
How a UK leisure operator shares data about its available products and how to purchase them to reach new customers
Case study (private sector) 16/04/2020
Case study: The value of sharing data to build trust
- Agriculture and food
- Data ethics and privacy
- Data publishing and use
- James Maddison
- Josh D'Addario
How a global agriculture business publishes open data to help evidence its commitments to being a more trustworthy organisation
Case study (private sector) 03/03/2020
Case study: The value of sharing data in supply chain optimisation
- Data publishing and use
- Transport
- James Maddison
- Josh D'Addario
How Airbus shares engineering data on its aeroplane concepts with supply-chain partners to improve the efficiency and accuracy of its product design
Case study (private sector) 03/03/2020
Case study: The value of sharing data to drive open innovation
- Data publishing and use
- Innovation
- James Maddison
- Josh D'Addario
In this case study, we look at how an EU-funded open innovation programme, Data Pitch, has allowed a large organisation to share data with a startup to help address key challenges
Case study (private sector) 03/03/2020
Case study: The value of sharing data in regulated environments
- Banking and finance
- Data publishing and use
- James Maddison
- Josh D'Addario
How a multinational investment bank and financial services company shares data both for regulatory purposes and more widely for its business
Case study (private sector) 03/03/2020
Case study: The value of sharing data for benchmarking and insights
- Built environment and housing
- Data publishing and use
- Transport
- James Maddison
- Josh D'Addario
How a private sector organisation is sharing data to provide shipping companies with safety recommendations
Case study (private sector) 03/03/2020
Case study: The value of sharing data to address sector challenges
- Data publishing and use
- Weather, energy and environment
- James Maddison
- Josh D'Addario
How two private sector organisations are sharing data to better forecast the generation of electricity from solar energy sources
Case study, Guides, Tools 21/02/2020
Data 2020
- Data infrastructure
- Data publishing and use
- Emerging tech and AI
- Innovation
- Policy
- Public service design
- Skills and literacy
- Jeni Tennison
Here is a landscape review of hot topics in the world of data in 2020 – from digital competition, AI and trade to data rights, ethics and literacy
Blog, Case study 18/02/2020
Testing our open cities workshop with Bristol Connected City
- Policy
- Cities
- Ben Snaith
- Renate Samson
- Violeta Mezeklieva
Find out how our tools can help cities work out what data they have, and how they can use that data effectively and ethically
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 26/12/2019
Data and Public Services Toolkit (case study)
- Public service design
Discover how we developed the Data and Public Services Toolkit which aims to address the challenges public authorities face when trying to use data
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 26/12/2019
Sharing engineering data for the public good (case study)
- Built environment and housing
- Data infrastructure
- James Maddison
- Leigh Dodds
Learn about our work exploring the opportunities and barriers around data sharing in the engineering sector
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 26/12/2019
About Data About Us (case study)
- Renate Samson
Find out about our project exploring narratives around data rights and data ownership
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 18/12/2019
Data Pitch (case study)
- Orsola De Marco
- Ryan Goodman
Learn how Data Pitch – a three-year open-innovation programme that explored how data shared by large organisations – worked with startups and innovators to tackle specific company and sector challenges
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 18/12/2019
OpenActive: addressing inactivity in the UK (case study)
- Data publishing and use
- Health and physical activity
Supported by Sport England, OpenActive addresses the problem of inactivity in the UK by helping people get active using open data
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 17/12/2019
Data Trust Exploration Group (case study)
- Data infrastructure
- Data publishing and use
- Peer networks
- Jack Hardinges
Read about how we ran a Data Trust Exploration Group to help guide our work around data trust pilots
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 13/12/2019
TAPAS: Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services (case study)
- Public service design
- James Maddison
We partnered with the Eurasia Foundation to deliver the open data workstream of a project to support Ukrainian citizens and government in combating corruption in its public administration functions, and to support open innovation and economic growth
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 11/12/2019
Creating FAIR and open agricultural data ecosystems with the Gates Foundation (case study)
- Agriculture and food
- Public service design
Find out more about our project to help agriculture programmes embed good data-management practices and to use data effectively, ethically and responsibly
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 27/11/2019
Using geospatial data: a guide to licences (case study)
- Geospatial data and mapping
Find out about how we researched, developed and disseminated of our 2019 guide, Using geospatial data: a guide to licences.
Case study 25/03/2019

How open data can revitalise public services (case study) Open data can help public service design. Read our case studies to get insights into the different methodologies and outcomes that can be used.
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 20/12/2018

Case study: Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) Action Read about our work the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) Action initiative, which was set up in response to the global challenge of ensuring food security for the growing global population
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 03/11/2018

Case study: OpenActive Read about OpenActive – our community-led initiative in the sports and physical activity sector
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 10/10/2018

Case study: Antimicrobial resistance and data Find out more about our project which explored how to gather and openly share data from antibiotic/AMR surveillance initiatives run by pharmaceutical companies.
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 03/10/2018

Case study: Tanzanian Data Lab (dLab) Discover how the Tanzania Data Lab (dLab) programme works to improve data skills in Tanzania
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 03/09/2018

Case study: data ecosystems mapping Find out how the ODI’s data ecosystem mapping tool can help organisations identify, map and communicate all elements of a data project or activity, including datasets, actors and relationships
Case study, Case study [Luminate] 03/08/2018

Case study: Data Ethics Canvas Read more about the Data Ethics Canvas which aims to help build trust in data by improving ethical practices in data projects
Case study, Reports 04/07/2018
Transport data in the UK and France (report)
- Transport
Transport data case studies and ideas for cross-country collaboration in the UK and France.
Blog, Case study 30/04/2018
New service delivery models: four councils using open data for service redesign
- Public service design
We awarded funding to four forward-thinking local government organisations to develop open data projects which explore how data could be used to improve public services – making them more efficient, innovative and citizen-focused.
Blog, Case study 12/04/2018

Open standards: case studies These case studies describe the history, development process, governance and key actors involved in the development of an open standard for data
Case study 12/06/2016

Guru Systems improving energy efficiency through open data Find out how open date helps to monitor realtime energy network performance, identify performance issues and optimise efficiencies
Blog, Case study 23/12/2015

A year in open data: How the ODI helped to deliver a successful democratic transition in Burkina Faso We reflect on the use of open data in building trust in an election process that faced many obstacles, and on the ODI’s role in supporting this process.
Blog, Case study 22/12/2015

A year in open data: Breathe Heathrow informs policy making Access to data can bring objectivity and insight to highly polarised debates. By involving communities in collecting and publishing data, OpenSensors.io and the ODI demonstrated how both citizens and policy makers can become better informed about issues of local and national importance.
Blog, Case study 16/12/2015

Travel smarter with open data app Fasteroute Research from open data startup Fasteroute and the Open Data Institute (ODI) reveals the UK cities most affected by morning delays and how commuters can avoid them
Blog, Case study 28/10/2015

Investment in Open Data Challenge Series could see 5 to 10-fold return to UK economy over 3 years A new report released today (28th October) by the Open Data Institute (ODI) and Nesta provides evidence for the first time of how open data could strengthen the UK economy.
Blog, Case study 08/09/2015
ODI summer showcase: Working with Mental Health
- Anna Scott
We chat with Martin Vowles, Director of M/A, about his ideas behind winning summer showcase project Working with Mental Health, and what he has in store.
Case study 15/07/2015

Peer-to-peer lending businesses lead the way in opening up financial data A comprehensive snapshot of the UK’s peer-to-peer lending market
Case study 05/02/2015
How Aidspan uses open data to track health spending
- Humanitarian response
We explore how Aidspan has been using open data to increase its impact and to provide a series of analysis and visualisation tools to its community, whose role is to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria around the world
Case study 30/11/2014
Open data in Macedonia: from legislation to engagement
- Public service design
- Cities
Blog, Case study 30/10/2014

Guest post: Linked data and the future of the web Identifiers are at the heart of how data becomes linked, but not many people know how to use them. The ODI and Thomson Reuters have written a guide to identifier schemes.
Blog, Case study 30/10/2014

Guest post: Linked data and the future of the web Today’s world would have been almost unimaginable then, and the phenomenal growth of the web has been intrinsically linked with many of the technology advances of the past 25 years. It will be no surprise if that continues for the next 25.
Blog, Case study 12/06/2012
Prescription Savings Worth Millions Identified by ODI incubated company
- Emma Thwaites
Innovative startups working with NHS doctors and academics have found a simple way to save millions of pounds