DD1179 Procurement of Second Generation London DataStore Platform

When it was launched in 2009, the original London DataStore (LDS) was a highly innovative first step into open data for London and the UK. In the intervening period, a number of other cities around the world have copied the GLA. Digital technology and the open data agenda have also advanced significantly in this time. The GLA is now seeking to develop an up-to-date LDS, through which the following key features and benefits will be provided:

• integration of data with the main london.gov.uk website;
• automatic, less labour intensive, gathering of data from other data stores and catalogues;
• modern interfaces, better able to provide data in machine readable formats (for use by web and app developers);
• better data search and management tools, making it more user friendly for Londoners and technical developers and easily updateable;
• opportunities to share our investment and intellectual property with the London boroughs and other cities through Open Source development.

This is in line with the development objectives set out in the Mayor’s Smart London Plan, in particular to “create a ‘next generation’ London Datastore that will aggregate disparate data sets and increase the co- creation of services to meet Londoners’ needs”. It also supports proposals for data and visualisations to feature more prominently in the relaunched London.gov.uk website.