Data Brew

Friday 18th January we facilitated the third session of our workshop Open Data for Everybody: A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Open Data, part of a series looking at Open Data, and hosted this time by City of Wolverhampton Council. Thankyou all involved for organising.

I’d also like to thank everyone for their participation, we had a great mix of voluntary and community based third sector and council staff in the room, and a really insightful session. I think we all came away having learned something new, ourselves included. Within the workshop we covered what Open Data is, why it is important and what you can do with it. We also looked at great examples of where it is being used effectively in the UK and further afield, examples of where best to find it across the UK, and the type of people and organisations that use it, as well as the aim of Data Brew itself.  We also had some activities throughout, which sparked some healthy debate and interesting discussions.

Our first activity looked at finding data in the region…

As with previous sessions we split the room into two groups to document their thought process and see what they mapped out. It was once again really interesting to see how the two groups compared and contrasted ideas. Collectively we had a good and varied mix of participants, majority third sector with some council based. Both groups remarked on the importance of the recently unveiled Council run WV Insight portal, and primary sources such as the Office for National Statistics, Police.UK crime data, Gov.UK, NHS and Census reports, and we also discussed further local sources such as the West Midlands Combined Authority, Black Country Consortium, local authorities and open source local government data.

It was really assuring to see both groups provide a breadth and depth of knowledge on where to find data both regionally and on a nationwide scale. Both groups also noted even the simplest of searches via search engines (Google, Bing, etc) are invaluable and easy to use, especially for finding various online journalistic articles, and utilising social media such as Twitter and groups/forums.

Both groups agreed that more needs to be done in terms of connecting sources and various portals, as well as improving data quality. One group in particular made a strong point regarding a lack of geographically comparable data; a huge issue with measuring data in a uniform way across the Midlands, and potentially nationwide, where data can be skewed by postcode thus giving an inaccurate picture of the area. Keeping data up to date also seems to be a major issue, and something that needs to be improved in future, as well as developing simple to use tools to help analyse data going forward.

At Data Brew we feel we have a duty to ensure that not only is open data accessible to people but that they also understand it can be used to create change for social good. We aim to make sure that people have more awareness of the various places you can obtain data and what you can do with it.

We also gained feedback following the session and asked about improving awareness in the area…

With over 87% of the room rating a 4 or 5 in importance we can see that there is a need for greater awareness of Open Data in the Wolverhampton area on a whole, and we hope that we can help improve this situation for the future.

Our second activity looked at the confidence in using open data in the region…

Continuing the theme with previous sessions neither group believe that there is an overwhelming amount of confidence in community and third sector groups using open data, with one group who specified reasons for this lack of confidence and a number of ideas for changing this going forward.

Some major factors as to why some people will struggle with confidence include time and money as resource, as well as lack of exposure, and issues with authority, data standards, capacity, and sharing best practice in using open data, as well as avoiding some of the ‘jargon’ that we at Data Brew attempt to dissect and simplify.

Interestingly, as discussed with previous participants, we also discussed the idea of training awareness, the need for guidelines, support and tools, and therefore having a third party facilitator to help with confidence by way of data workshops or online help. 

We also discussed the importance of “layman” language, to help translate some of the jargon used, and the importance of workshops such as this that help with making the language used easier to understand. 

The key point here is ensuring open data is accessible for everyone, understanding the importance of it and what you can do with it for social good.

We asked a couple questions following the session in relation to our participants/organisations and the sort of Open Data they are interested in, and how they would use it. The key point, as with previous sessions, seems to be accessing data to help make a real difference to communities and create social change. It’s particularly good to see a varied array of points made on how to create social action, with emphasis on improving services, and developing projects, with a view to creating solutions.  

One group made a very valid point within the workshop about a community agenda, giving examples and stories about real world issues on a smaller, local, and more relatable level that can get communities on board with open data, and helping them understand the real importance of it all.

Knowing exactly what data is readily available out there is important, as we have shown over these workshop sessions, and we aim to ensure that people have more awareness of the various places you can obtain data and what you can do with it by way of these workshops and proposed follow-ups as we move forward.

If you are a third sector organisation, or local activist and would like access to the information slides from this workshop please email [email protected] and we will provide you a download link.

Interested in further reading? Check out our blogs covering our previous workshops with Lichfield and Sandwell, and of course keep an eye on our twitter for more updates!

By Gareth Davies - Head of Data Brew

Open data seems to be the big phrase within the community sector at the moment, especially those with an interest in social innovation.

But, should community organisations and the voluntary sector get on board the open data train?

The answer is a resounding yes, of course. As not for profit organisations we should constantly be looking to better what we do to aid social change.

More importantly with how delving into data can help your organisation better access funding, evidence impact and hold decision makers accountable, why are we not using it?

These are questions we are looking to answer, but before discuss barriers, here's a quick jargon free look at open data:

What is open data?

The term ‘Open Data’ in layman's terms is basically the idea of information should be free for anybody and everybody to use, replicate or build upon.

What does it actually look like?

Open data can come in the form of everything a report, a spreadsheet, an interactive graph to even HTML files, mostly the former three and they usually in the form Word documents, Excel sheets and PDFs.

These hold information everything you can think of in regards to the public sector such as child obesity numbers to even how many public toilets we have in our area.

Where can I find it in Wolverhampton?

For starters you can head to the City of Wolverhampton Council's own open data portal WVinsights or the UK Government’s platform.

Who uses it?

Anybody can access it but to give you a rough idea it’s businesses, digital developers who would use the data to create applications, journalists for news articles.

The question we want to ask you is “who should be using it?” and how can we help the community to better understand the different it can make.

That is what we have been working on at Data Brew, a project that is trying to make the language around open data more understandable and the process accessible to absolutely everybody, because that should be the point of it, right?

But it isn't, the word itself can be quite scary and if even if you type the words into a search imagine you’ll see lots of articles from highly academic people using unnecessarily jargon, which is confusing.

Even some professionals would feel they are playing catch up with the open data movement and do not feel confident to ask what it really is as they feel it’s something they should already know - the point I’m trying to get at is that it is that ingrained, so it’s okay to ask questions and give yourself opportunities to learn.

It’s good to go back to basics and that is why with the City of Wolverhampton Council we are holding a free workshop event on the 18th January at Civic Centre called ‘Open Data for Everybody - A Beginners’ Guide to Understanding Open Data.’

Here you will learn about the definition of open data, examples of good practice, how you can use it in real terms for your project and then take part in a series of mapping activities that will help ensure the third sector at all skill levels have an input into the local agenda.

So, whether you are a total beginner or you have a decent grasp of what open data is, you are welcome and you’ll find you will all have the opportunity to contribute.

Places are limited and you can sign up for free, here.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me on [email protected] and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Data Brew have partnered up with iSandwell for their monthly theme and this October we are discussing how digital can improve our neighbourhoods in Sandwell. We started a series of workshops in July where we looked at the world of Open Data and presented a real beginner’s guide to what it all means and what you can do with it, and kicked it all off with our first session right here in Sandwell.

Our aim is very much a case of utilising Open Data to enable and encourage conversation between community stakeholders - just normal people, social activists, community and voluntary organisations who all have a say in how their neighbourhood is affected - and then creating projects with a view to resolving issues that affect the neighbourhoods and communities they work with.

We feel we have a duty to ensure that not only is Open Data accessible to people but they also understand it can be used to create change.

So, let’s develop a scenario. Imagine you keep hearing from residents on your street about a few break-in’s that have happened recently, or some car theft in the surrounding areas. You want to do something about it but don’t know where to start. Did you know that you can log on to www.police.uk and search your local area for crime statistics? These statistics are open data, and freely available to everyone, to use and republish as they wish, completely free from restrictions. You can obtain statistics for your street and surrounding areas and take these to your local Neighbourhood Watch group, or go direct to Sandwell council to discuss what can be done about it. 

Opening up a dialogue is the first step, and having the data to hand, in hard evidence, gives you the power to create change. It gives you control in creating a difference for your neighbourhood, and improving Sandwell for social good.

Let’s also imagine you are a budding journalist and social activist based in Sandwell. You like writing about your neighbourhood but you also notice there are problem areas and want to address these and get people talking, maybe even get people doing something about it. You can look at various portals of Open Data, the UK Government’s data.gov.uk site houses data from local to national institutions, but especially pertinent to Sandwell is the Sandwell Trends website, which has a wealth of information and statistics on key areas like population, deprivation, diversity, housing, health and education. You may be seeing some issues with deprivation in Sandwell and here you will find maps and charts and even contextual data to back up your claims, and really drill down into the problem areas. You can then use your findings to write an article or a blog, presenting your findings as you wish. 

So, if you aren’t already, get set up on social media, primarily Twitter, and start researching local community organisations, voluntary organisations and other local activists and start sharing the blog around, and getting your thoughts out there. See if you can find a common goal. 

Get your article noticed. And what better way to get noticed than with solid evidence as the foundation of your article. Evidence that is solely rooted in freely available data. You could potentially team up with a local organisation and provide your findings as part of a bid application to get funding to directly help alleviate the issues you are highlighting.

You could even encourage your neighbours to capture their own data, which really is as simple as collecting surveys on a single issue. This is great for community involvement, and can have a real impact on regional decisions.

Anything is possible with the right foundation.

iSandwell is a collaborative project between Sandwell Council, community organisations and residents that looks to encourage the use of digital in the region. If you want to get involved, and have a hand in shaping the digital agenda in Sandwell while contributing to the iSandwell platform, email [email protected] for more information, or tweet them @isandwellhq

For further reading you can check out our blog detailing our findings from our Sandwell workshop here   

By Gareth Davies - Head of Data Brew

Thursday 11th October we facilitated the second session of our workshop Open Data for Everybody: A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Open Data. This was part of a proposed series looking at Open Data, and was hosted this time by Lichfield District Council. Thankyou all involved for organising.

I’d also like to thank everyone for their participation, we had a great session and I think we all learned a lot about the local region and further afield. Within the workshop we covered what Open Data is, why it is important and what you can do with it. We also looked at great examples of where it is being used effectively in the UK and overseas, examples of where best to find it across the UK, and the type of people and organisations that use it, as well as the aim of Data Brew itself.  We also had some activities, insightful discussions and a few debates…

Our first activity looked at finding data in the region…

We split the room into two groups to document their thought process and see what they mapped out. As with our first session it was really interesting to see how the two groups compared and contrasted. Collectively the participants were majority council based, and remarked on the likes of the Government Data Portal, County Council and internal databases, electoral register, the Office for National Statistics, police and crime data, locality profiles, the Public Health Outcomes Framework, and community sources, as well as utilising other local authorities and external companies. It was assuring to see a depth of knowledge on where to find data both regionally and nationwide.

Both sides also mentioned using Google to perform simple searches and find new portals, but one group took it a step further and spoke of the data readily available via Experian, although some data is paid for, and utilising Zoopla for local area information (also noted in our previous session), as well as the use of Twitter and special interest social media groups as legitimate portals of data.

Both groups agreed that more needed to be done in terms of communication so that datasets are accessible but that people understand where to find it. Funding is also a major issue and needs to be looked at to ensure availability is not affected.

At Data Brew we feel we have a duty to ensure that not only is open data accessible to people but that they also understand it can be used to create change for social good. We aim to make sure that people have more awareness of the various places you can obtain data and what you can do with it.

We also gained feedback following the session and asked about improving awareness in the area…

With almost 90% of the room rating a 4 or 5 in importance we can see that there is a need for greater awareness of Open Data in the Lichfield area, and we hope that we can help improve this situation in the future.

Our second activity looked at the confidence in using open data in the region… 

Interestingly, one group decided outright that there is a lack of confidence in third sector being able to use open data and looked at how we can help provide that confidence in the future. The other group also went down a similar route of outlining ways to help with confidence where it may be lacking.

Support Staffordshire, actively encouraging social action in the area, were outlined by both groups, in particular linking them with providing data workshops that can help with third sector confidence. We also discussed publicising what is available via printed material and social media, lobbying elected members of council, getting in touch with CVS and community organisations to map out needs, and ultimately the possibility of making such an issue part of someone’s job at the council itself.

We also asked a couple questions following the session in relation to our participants/organisations and the sort of Open Data they are interested in, and how they would use it. The main focus here seems to be not only finding data to enable social good and make a real difference to communities but also discussing data requirements with the public so that voices are heard on what data is wanted and what people are looking for so that needs can be prioritised effectively. It is also assuring to see a vast range of points made on how to create social action, with a large emphasis on improving services, developing, and funding services, and then hopefully creating solutions to challenges faced, which I think is very important.

If you are a third sector organisation, or local activist and would like access to the information slides from this workshop please email [email protected] and we will provide you with a download link.

This free introduction to Open Data is being run with further local authorities over the coming months, so keep an eye on our twitter for updates!

By Gareth Davies - Head of Data Brew

Friday 27th July we facilitated our first workshop, Open Data for Everybody: A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Open Data. This was the first in a proposed series looking at Open Data, and was hosted by Sandwell MBC, in association with iSandwell. Thankyou all involved for organising.

I’d also like to thank everyone who participated and got involved, we had a great session and I think we all learned a lot about the region, myself included. Within the workshop we covered what Open Data is, why it is important and what you can do with it. We also looked at great examples of where it is being used effectively in the UK and overseas, examples of where best to find it across the UK, and the type of people and organisations that use it, as well as the aim of Data Brew itself.  We also had a few activities and insightful discussions...

Our first activity looked at finding data in the Sandwell region...

We split the room into two groups to document their thought process and it was really interesting to see where they compared but moreso how they contrasted. Both sides drew on the good that the Sandwell Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is doing for the region, as well as the likes of iSandwell, Sandwell Council itself and the Council run Sandwell Trends site (www.sandwelltrends.info), and also Police.UK which we featured in the workshop.

It was also great to see some obvious sources crop up, that didn’t seem obvious at first, like using internet search engines such as Google, utilising Zoopla for local information surrounding houses for sale or rent, as well as Wikipedia, online newspaper articles and local media, libraries, schools, universities, unions, charities and more. 

Both sides of the room agreed that more needed to be done to ensure people get access to data, and understand how easy it is to obtain. 

At Data Brew we feel we have a duty to ensure that not only is open data accessible to people but that they also understand it can be used to create change for social good. A big part of this is knowing what is readily available out there, which was also brought up by the group, and we aim to make sure that people have more awareness of the various places you can obtain data and what you can do with it.

We also gained feedback following the session and asked about improving awareness in the area...

With 90.9% of the room rating this ‘Very Important’ this just further solidified the need for greater awareness of Open Data in Sandwell, and we will work on this going forward.

Our second activity looked at the confidence in using open data in Sandwell...

It was interesting to see here that one group looked at the confidence of using open data, whilst the other looked at the factors affecting confidence, so this was really great to contrast.

One group remarked how confidence in using Open Data is limited, people are more comfortable using statistics as fact and not necessarily to create change, and more awareness is needed of places or people that have used data in the past to create change. There are many factors affecting confidence as can be seen above but both groups agreed that more training is required to help with confidence in the accuracy of data, understanding the importance of it and what you can do with it, and making sure skills are up to date. 

We also asked a couple questions as part of the feedback following the session in relation to our participants/organisations and the sort of Open Data they are interested in, and how they would use it, and a very valid point echoing some of the thoughts of the last activity were made regards using open data to not simply validate statements but to create solutions to needs/challenges highlighted by the data, and I think that’s a very important thing to keep in mind.

If you are a third sector organisation, or local activist and would like access to the information slides from this workshop please email [email protected] and we will provide you with a download link.

This free introduction to Open Data will be available soon to other local council authorities over the coming months, so keep an eye on our twitter for updates!

By Gareth Davies - Head of Data Brew

I’m fairly new to the concept of Open Data, I’m still learning, but I believe it is important that we change the language surrounding how we discuss the subject and work to rid the unnecessary jargon and make it accessible for everybody.

Similarly I think it’s important that we find ways to relate with Open Data and nothing right now seems more relevant than the FIFA World Cup which is being watched by millions worldwide.

This recent article on Forbes provides a great insight into how the German national team are using Open Data to their advantage during the World Cup and hope to use their “virtual 12th man”, a range of analytics tools condensed into a mobile app, to help them pick up much needed points.

You can read more on the article above for yourself but I find it very interesting that they have actually been using this technology for five years now and were using it at the World Cup in 2014, which of course helped them on the way to lifting the trophy. 

Open Data helped Germany win the World Cup - you don’t hear that in the news.

But can it do it again?

Will this sort of thing become the norm in years to come? 

Manchester City and other club teams are already using similar technology. Germany want to take it to the next level and use these tools to identify future stars. Are we on the verge of other sports buying into this sort of tech? 

Whatever happens, it’s a very exciting prospect and I look forward to seeing more innovative uses of free and readily available data in places you weren’t exactly expecting. 

By Gareth Davies - Head of Data Brew