Show Us a Better Way

Final day!

We are into the final mile! The competition closes today and all entries must be submitted by midnight tonight. We want your good idea, so don't miss the boat.

There have been a couple of queries along the lines of "Where's my entry, has it been received?" The short answer is probably "yes".

As you can see we have experienced a little bit of a glut of applications in the final few days. Please bear with us as we work through the moderation queue.

Just to be clear will be accepting all entries that are submitted by midnight tonight (even if not approved by midnight). If there are any problems with your browser please submit in addition to the taskforce email:

poi@cabinet-office.gov.uk

Best of luck with your entries and keep your eyes peeled for more news in the next few days!

Value for Money in my locality

Submitted by: Alan Ward, BT

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

A healthy democracy is built upon transparent communication and active involvement of the community in decision making at all levels. Citizens are interested in value for money of their local services and also how they compare on a national basis. Providing this information in an interesting and an engaging way will improve both communications and involvement of individuals in appropriate Government policy issues.

This idea is an example that supports these aims and is about presenting the statistics that show the well-being of an area (crime, schools performance, rubbish collection, recycling) alongside the amount of money invested by the local authority. This could be combined with feedback as to whether 'users' see the benefit of investments personally as well as links to the right contacts too resolve issues.

The combination of the published data and local feedback should give a balanced local view of value for money of local and central government services ie allow comparison of performance and costs from official figures and users views. This could be extended to comparisons outside this country to best of breed performance overseas. It also creates a sense of healthy competition including perhaps an overall affordability/desirability index that blends the cost of living with the efficacy of local government service provision for a particular area.
The data could extend over time e.g. include value for money measures for doctors, MPs, hospitals etc.

What information or services do you need?

Cost apportioned by service, filtered blog feeds, cost comparators, crime statistics, house price indices, school performance

Smart meetings

Submitted by: Alan Ward, BT

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Human beings thrive on communication; a vibrant community is built on contact between people; a healthy local economy is fuelled by meetings and interactions between individuals; but in a world where members of a community are increasingly geographically dispersed how are these meetings supported without an unacceptable strain upon transport services and the capacity of the globe to absorb the consequential environmental impact of travel? Managing these conflicting objectives requires intelligent solutions. This idea is one such solution.

Start by imagining that companies and communities had access to a database of home/office locations and nearest mainline stations for all employees or members (broadly this already exists in many cases e.g. local train station could be identified either by asking employees to name their preference or matching based on registered addresses)

Next consider the arrangement of meetings -- typically a meeting arranger starts by listing attendees and perhaps proposed location(s). This data is sufficient to run a mash-up that links a mapping solution to public transport data to establish the total mileage, cost and carbon impact used for the meeting (if everyone drives) and/or the total price if everyone goes by train or in some combination. Recommendations as to the optimum location might be provided. In some cases this data could be linked to meeting room availability calendars.

The recommendations could be presented back as a meeting profile to the meeting organiser with a suggestion on how they could use collaboration tools (such as online conferencing or local conference facilities) to avoid this cost/environmental impact. It would also be possible to generate a travelling time profile -- i.e. what is the total time that people will have to travel to get to the meeting and the worst case travelling time/cost for individuals. It is possible to imagine this as an intra-company approach or extended as a public service.

What information or services do you need?

Timetable information (preferably real-time), postcode and address data for public transport, average cost and carbon impact by mileage

Communityfaq.com

Submitted by: Alan Ward, BT

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

It is important to government to promote a sense of community and in an information rich world this needs accessible and RELEVANT community information. Much of the information about a particular area is readily available but not all in one place on one dashboard page that is centred around the individual. This idea is about combining postcode data with relevant FAQs. If the user could type in his or her post code and be provided with the 20 most frequently asked service questions about the neighbourhood. Importantly these questions should include time dependent element e.g. varying by season or updated to reflect a current local issue -- 'wasp nest removal in late summer. Some similar site exist, such as 'Upmystreet'. These provide some answers but these are scattered over the site and not specific to the location.

This information could be made increasingly relevant dependent upon the personal profile information that an individual feels comfortable to share. For example in the case of families with primary school children it would be very relevant to provide local school information; events or unexpected school closure etc.

What information or services do you need?

Local news feeds, weather, postcode data, real-time events

Mapping overlays

Submitted by: Alan Ward

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The concept of combining mapping, location data and relevant government information is a powerful one as evidenced by the numerous ideas offered into this competition. However enhanced benefit can come from including user preferences and trusted real-time data as additional dimensions to this idea. Imagine a Google map of the UK with overlays across several information sources. Users can access the mapping service and select the information overlays that they desire. Overlays can be anything; weather, road conditions, utility service areas, school districts, park zones, road construction, agency locations, tourism, emergency bunkers, police stations, hospitals, historic locations/events, crime or fire issues, health or political districts,etc.

This could be extended to commercial companies; for example a company could include a map with offices and service overlays, service centres, diagram of availability, customer concentrations, etc. A commercially available version can be shown on the Internet for public use while a more detailed one, with internal company data, could be available on an intranet to speed information to employees.

The power of this idea can be seen through a specific example; Consider a website where the public could view cctv images from cameras that are located in public places. A layered map of cctv locations would allow a person viewing the website to see both facilities in the area and real-time images of the actual location.

The real-time dimensions of these ideas are further enhanced as we move more deeply into the world of pervasive computing. Companies such as Nokia are starting to advertise their latest smartphone-of-desire on the basis of the geographic information it conveys (and against which one can collaborate). This means that the brand space for trusted real-time content is up for grabs; an opportunity for government in association with business and private enterprise. Your mobile computing devices know where you are, there are copious geographic information databases in existence (if they can be unlocked through intelligent application and update of copyright and IP laws). These facts in combination can be used to good advantage. For example if I trust the real-time content I can discover key information about my locality -- is it SAFE right now, are there any incidents underway, is the local football match about to end etc. The key is an ability to sift trusted information from the background noise and to apply it intelligent to mapping and location data and supply in a timely fashion. People will need high quality trusted information against which they are prepared to make everyday decisions. A location-aware mobile phone could become your 'Spirit Guide' if you know how to choose and access the right information sources. Government information and commerce are key to enabling such useful information services.

What information or services do you need?

Current location data, crime information, travel information, local new and weather reports

Allotment Manager

Submitted by: Alan Ward, BT

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The health and well being of the UK population is a key concern for the government. Promotion of exercise and engendering a sense of community are both important to promoting this well being and often such a promotion will be realised through many modest or medium sized projects rather than sweeping grandiose schemes. This idea is one such example that might be a template for other similar community ideas.

The idea relates to the provision and improved utilisation of garden allotments. There are more people applying for allotments than local councils can provide. Very often people applying for an allotment do not realise the commitment that will be needed to maintain their plot of land; how much work is required and what skill and knowledge will be needed. This idea is about matching people from a waiting list with existing allotment holders, exploiting opportunities for experienced but perhaps elderly gardeners to share their knowledge and skill in return for assistance from new would-be allotment holders. A government mash-up combining information relevant to allotments, with appropriate regulation, community user group information, weather etc. and this 'marketplace' for help and assistance with existing allotments would be an appealing government support scheme that should offer excellent value for money. Adding the concept of a marketplace for allotment produce would also promote a Green agenda, encouraging the purchase of locally grown foodstuffs with its associated low carbon impact.

As mentioned this should be seen as a template idea that could spawn many others; farmers markets, allotment tending during holidays allotment demand tracking etc.

What information or services do you need?

Allotment availability, waiting list and current lessees, weather, relevant news and advice reports/feeds

Travel companion

Submitted by: Alan Ward, BT

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

There is a need to be able to contact British Citizens while they are abroad quickly and effectively, particularly in the event of a crisis e.g. threat of terrorism, armed conflict or natural disaster. The ability to efficiently 'push' relevant information, from weather reports, through to health warnings, towards citizens travelling around the world could underpin a valuable service.

This need could be fulfilled by a targeted government information feed, 'mashing-up' relevant foreign office data, news, weather and travel information and targeting this towards travellers with delivery in the right format, to a device of choice and in a timely fashion. This delivery might range from web pages through to SMS alerts and should include relevant contact details for the country and incident in question. A combination of a rich information feed and timely SMS or similar communication of key facts would be an empowering service for travellers abroad or about to travel and should deliver benefit to the government in improving data on whereabouts of UK citizens at low cost and accurately at times of emergency.

This idea could be enriched by combination with 'converged' communications services from BT or other telecom service providers and ensuring real-time availability of data from both the UK and trusted agencies abroad.

What information or services do you need?

News feeds, Health and vaccination data, travel reports, Government contact data

Shore to shore

Submitted by: R Walter

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

As a visitor to the site, you could pick two or three different regions that you're interested in for analysis - a bit like comparing three products on a feature comparison website. Regions could be whole countries or areas within them. For example, London, Paris and Berlin. You'd have to choose similar regions, based on size, or population.

The site would then draw together all the information on government spending in various categories (health, police, tourism etc.) for those three regions and compare them using real time currency conversions and per capita approximations. This would be displayed neatly in charts & graphs.

Alongside this information would be the "effects" of this spending: crime levels, poverty levels, education levels and so on.

Further tools would allow visitors to see how these figures have changed over time. Nifty tools in the site would gather commonly requested comparisons and package them up into pages with forums and polls. The tools would also look for correlations and interesting time-based developments, again flagging these up.

Eventually, useful comparisons would bubble up as more and more people rate them highly, leading to the kind of information that just isn't available at the moment. We'd be able to investigate why, let's say, the Finnish spend less per capita on healthcare but the life expectancy is longer.

We'd finally have a fantastic resource that not only could we in the UK (the government, political parties, policy makers, journalists, businesses and ultimately the citizens) benefit from, but also other nations as well.

The lessons learned in one region or country could far more quickly be applied in another.

There are many mashups out there that provide data or map information, but they rarely work across regional boundaries. As citizens we need to take a more global approach, so the technology needs to follow suit.

What information or services do you need?

The hard parts are:
- encouraging other governments (or similar sources) to publish their data as have this Taskforce. Or if it is already available, it's digging it out and then...
- classification and 'normalising' of data so that comparisons are feasible and accurate
- ensuring that all data is numerical so that comparisons in any language are possible without changing the data

And many other things!

QUICK_GO : A Customised FROM - TO map for each citizen on their mobile

Submitted by: CHUNDI HIMAKIRAN KUMAR

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

QUICK_GO

1. Introduction. This application will help a user in finding the quickest route to his destination using the present traffic conditions at various places. It shall then chart a route on his local google map. The application will also be able to suggest whether he should drive down a particular road or take a metro on a longer route to get to his destination. The suggested route shall be different at different times of the day and year taking into account the present traffic conditions at the time of the query.

2. Working. The application should be developed for a mobile phone usage to have the maximum impact. The application should be installed by the user in his phone. When the application starts it will show the user's present location on a google map. To use the application the user shall pick his source and destination from a pickup menu. Then the application shows the nearest route from his source to destination on the phone. This route which is shown is the nearest route selected by virtue of the "distance" factor alone. There shall be a Traffic-Optimize button which upon clicking will take into account the present traffic density on the route and compute him a different route which might be longer but shall take lesser time due to low traffic conditions. In case the traffic exceeds the normal figure by a huge margin on the given roads the application shall calculate a different route utilizing a different mode of transport, say the TUBE.

3. Whom does it help? Firstly it will help all citizens and commuters who shall be less inconvenienced and more informed regarding the traffic and also tell them the quickest way to any place.
Secondly if the usage of this application attains a critical mass, it shall become an invaluable tool for the city traffic system to divert traffic and spread it equally across the various modes by specially crafted recommendations to the citizens.

What information or services do you need?

Information and Services Required. The following information and services are required.
(a) Google maps
(b) Real time Traffic information on the various roads and Interstate.
(c) Real time information on the traffic in the Tube, metro railway.
(d) Real time information of any natural or man-made disasters affecting the
Roads, metro railways etc.

Online Watch Link

Submitted by: Gary Fenton

Website: http://www.owl.co.uk

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

There are over 100,000 watch schemes in the UK and this web app allows each coordinator for each scheme to manage it online instead of on paper or in an offline spreadsheet. The police or council who typically oversee watch schemes can administrate the schemes online and share updates such as new watches, new members, amended contact details, etc, with coordinators (who account for 1000's of unpaid volunteers around the UK). Importantly, coordinators can update this information online too as well as individual members of the public who belong to a watch scheme.

Addresses are pre-loaded so users don't need to type in addresses, just point and click. Maps could show users how their watch is made up and senior users get to see where all of their watches are in their area or ward. It can be used to spot areas where there is little or no coverage so something can be done to start up new watches. The website provides tools to help start up a new watch.

The public can find out if they live in a Neighbourhood Watch area by typing in their postcode. It will let them send a private message to their local coordinator if they wish to join up or with the police if they have no watch in their area.

It's also a communications system too so the police, council and coordinators can send out messages, such as crime alerts, by phone, email, fax, SMS, letter, and publish instantly to the website. A history of crime alerts is available online. This could provide an RSS feed to other web services.

Coordinators can log incidents and observations online which are fully searchable by the police. (It's up to each police force to support this as they see fit)
A page on the website provides local information such as contact details for your coordinators and the police administrator, nearest police station, and connects in with other services to provide important and relevant local information.

N.B. The system is already used by some police forces and 1000's of volunteer coordinators. One objective of this submission is to seek funding for parts of the UK that don't have it and to develop it further, perhaps linking in with other excellent ideas that have been submitted. Some of the proposed websites should be able to share data where they cross over to create super-mashups!

What information or services do you need?

Address & postcode data
Map data
Neighbourhood Statistics API

OneSource

Submitted by: Marilyn Saklatvala

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

It avoids the proliferation of sites (e.g. BBC sites / .gov sites) offering the same information,often inconsistently, ranks those that are reliable and allows them to be easily located through multiple search terms

What information or services do you need?

A team of knowledgeable, intelligent, instinctive people to build a benchmark for judging sites, compile the index and the thesaurus and then people to maintain the checking, indexing and updating of the thesaurus.

PlanningFinder

Submitted by: Alex Fuller

Website: http://www.planningfinder.co.uk

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

PlanningFinder came about as a result of observing serious failures of the planning application process. For example, in Bristol a waste re-cycling centre was opened near a residential area without anyone having been notified. The problem with mistakes in the planning system is that the consequences for the people caught up in it can be very grave indeed. This is underlined by the fact that for the last two consecutive years Planning and Building Control has been the largest area of complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.

The PlanningFinder website is intended to be a tool to benefit all in the community, whether residents, developers and local government officers by making planning information for more visible.

What information or services do you need?

We need planning application information from local planning authorities which we collect using a scraping application.

CivicAgora

Submitted by: J Glinert

Website: http://www.civicagora.org

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

CivicAgora will be a wiki-based system where policies and matters of significance would be collaboratively examined and subject to reasoned tests through a deliberative process. This will function through a unique system where deliberative arguments would be tested in relation to empirical materials and conceptual assumptions within an 'architecture of principles.'

Public information would serve as a core group of data so that deliberations on policy might be realistically grounded and government data carefully scrutinized.

The basic structure of CivicAgora will be a set of distinct wiki platforms. As well as the wiki platform for deliberation (CiviTopica), there will be distinct wiki platforms designated for the storing or referencing of facts, including the body of public information (CiviEmpirica) and background concepts (CiviLogos) that will serve as an intellectual infrastructure for the content of deliberations. There will also be a space for evaluating the formation of policy (CiviPolity).

Content of the wiki platforms will be contributed by the general public or relevant institutions and would be refined over time. Since policy necessarily covers a broad set of matters, the topics for deliberation would be inclusive of a range of disciplines. In order to balance accessibility and rigour, each deliberative position would be presented in a 'rhetorical' readable essay-like format as well as in a 'dialectical' form where the argument would be broken down into its premises as explained below.

The core functional mechanism of CivicAgora would be a collaborative effort to breakdown deliberative arguments into their constituent premises. The premises would then be shown to be derived from a set of antecedent premises. This would be through direct links interconnecting the premises with the reasoning materials on which these are founded within the relevant wiki platform (i.e., related arguments within CiviTopica, fact-sheets or data sets within CiviEmpirica, theoretical assumptions and frameworks within CiviLogos).

As a functioning system, CivicAgora would serve to progressively model an 'architecture of principles' allowing for a series of premises to be demonstratively traced to their derivation or implications, but also for these constructions to be contended at every level. Effectively this would allow for any proposition or principle to be subject to a hierarchy of tests and its application to policy justifications carefully critiqued and refined through scrutiny from multiple vantage points. Further, rather than start from scratch, each debate would build upon a set of premises that has already been subject to examination and thereby it would be easier to construct a quality argument or critique.

The foundation of public information would serve as the real-world grounding for deliberations such that these would be empirically contextualized within the sphere of policy research and so set high standards for the seriousness and applications of collaborative reasoning.

Overall, CivicAgora would serve to elevate public debate and ensure that this is firmly grounded through modeling commonsense reasoning using real world data. This might also generally serve as a cross-disciplinary problem solving tool for examining complex policy matters on reasoned terms.

What information or services do you need?

The services that would be required would be the online space for wiki platforms, electronic storage space including for data referencing or management. The information necessary would be the public information that the government is willing to make available. It is expected that the structure of the proposed system would progressively interconnect data and highlight its relevance.

Urban Screens

Submitted by: Malcolm Camp

Website: http://Sheffield independent Film

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Utilising networks of LCD screens in the neighbourhood which act as multi media super information boards.
Key agencies: community groups, forums, TARA, police, councils etc can participate in online dialogue on issues of local importance making use of public data to illustrate and support their arguments. Individual campaigners will also be able to submit articles, art, video artefacts , messages etc. In addition they will be able to use the screens to advertise services, events and to disseminate public information.
Minority groups can meet and mingle in a way that is not provided for in other social mechanisms. The communication uses, will vary from group to group but will allow for innovation and creativity -- highlighting public information that would otherwise remain in the specialists domain.
Where it is needed - tutorials about how to make digital media and how to access the site will be provided. The extent of these workshops will vary from agency to agency. Some organisations may already produce digital media content of a high standard. In all cases the sustainability of the project will be ensured by making sure that Sheffield Independent Film maintains and monitors an access point for digital material and updates partners. Once the scheme is widely publicised it will become a distribution outlet for all kinds of community media in the future. Critically the communication needs of local democratic organisations will be served.
In addition to the installation of our own screens, we intend to establish links with pre-existing screens in the city in such places as supermarkets, doctor's surgeries, bus and train stations, schools and colleges. We will follow models initiated in Rotterdam and Berlin. For example we plan to set up multi-way real time debates, using three large screens to help resolve young people's inter-ward conflict on neutral ground.

What information or services do you need?

Multiple agencies in the community would make use of data in creative ways. For example: Total spend by gov.t and community services in an area; ethnic breakdown of the ward by age group,and gender; Crime figures by street including crimes solved; Information regarding recent improvement works and planning permission under process. Maps showing potentially harmful ancient waste sites. The abillity to layer maps to incorporate new nvironmental planning and landscaping

TubeTimer

Submitted by: Stephen Elliott

Website: http://www.tubetimer.co.uk/

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The user is presented with a map and chooses a location - the surrounding area of the map is then coloured in, with colours corresponding to approximate journey times (Tube journey time plus walking time) for journeys starting at the chosen spot. For example when clicking on Victoria, a red area is shown which extends east to Temple and north to Oxford Circus, meaning you could get to these locations within ten minutes on the Tube.

This map is then given a 'permalink' so that the user can share it via e-mail or social bookmarking.

I used the National Public Transport Data Repository data set to get my raw data, then pre-processed this and uploaded it to the Google App Engine where the maps are calculated live as the user requests them.

This prototype could be useful for:
- People wanting to research where to live, to be able to get to work within a reasonable time.

- Similarly, job applicants who want to work within a certain journey time from home.

- Event venues who could give prospective visitors journey times to get to their location.

What information or services do you need?

I used the NPTDR.org.uk dataset, as used by Transport Direct. This gives journey times between adjacent tube stations.

What is Working Worth to Me?

Submitted by: Nicola Franklin

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Working out the impact of starting paid work when you have been on benefits can be complicated and difficult.

There are a wide range of factors to take into account, including - various kinds of benefits, tax credits, pay rates, travel costs, hours of work, childcare costs.

Many people are put off the idea of looking for paid work, especially temporary work, because they believe they will be worse off or because they will lose benefits and find it too hard or complicated to get them back again if the work ends. Conversley, temporary work is often a good way for someone who has been out of the job market for some time to begin to regain skills, and build up a portfolio of experience that will make them attractive to an employer with a permanent vacancy.

A simple to use calculator which would take inputs, use internal data and calculate a projected net weekly or monthly income, would remove much of this uncertaintly.

The tool would need to take inputs of current benefits entitlement (housing benefit, job seekers allowance, etc), proposed hours or work and pay rate, expected childcare costs, travel costs, etc, and other information to allow the tool to assess eligibility for tax credits, and output a simple to read net weekly or monthly income figure.

What information or services do you need?

Tax credit information and rules, job seeker benefits information and rules, local childcare rates, local transport costs.

Show me

Submitted by: Tony Callaghan

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Would contain information on a wide range of subjects, from recreation, fitness, local walks,cycle routes, bridle paths. Local authorities contact information.
information is endless.
Police stations, hospitals.
simply select what your searching for and the location you are in.
The information will be provided in a popup window over map.

What information or services do you need?

recreation information (free or paid for)Council services. rights of way etc.

The Government Channel

Submitted by: Mahmood Choudhury

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The multimedia channel will contain bitesize guides and videos on every aspect of the government. It will include tutorials, interviews, debates, free guides, and question-answer sections.

It will be the Youtube of Government - where people can upload their own content, videos, guides etc. The government can use it to inform people of services, feedback and provide ways for people to learn from one another.

For example, people that want to take the Citizen's Test and don't know what to expect and view videos of what happens. This would be uploaded by people that have taken the test.

Currently, councils across the UK are using Youtube to upload videos about what they do. These include Swansea, Lincoln and Aberdeenshire. I would like my idea to provide people with access to all content (video, multimedia etc) produced by these councils so that they do not have to jump from one website to another.

You might have sections like Council Channel (search and view content made by councils across the UK), People Channel (insights and experiences, Guides, Tutorials, Debates etc.

I want to be able to browse and view content from across the UK related to the government and upload my own. This could include showing people how to do a certain task (fill in forms etc), guide to social services or latest initiatives happening in my area (new parks, meeting halls, recreation centre, exhibitions etc).

People can record and upload content about their own experiences living in a borough, using services and how it may be improved.

This channel would engage people in the work that local councils do in their area, across the UK and the government as a whole.

HOW IT WORKS

1- People select an area across the UK or type in a keyword - for example SW3

2- They can then choose to view videos related to current local news, lifestyle and business content, public service films, community news and events, culture, sports and tourism

3- They can also access government guides, tutorials and
leaflets to print out

4- They can also view custom generated content such as audio, video and guides made by people living in that area. For example, interviews with local artists,  community projects that help young people or a multimedia prospectus for a school

5- People can ask questions and receive feedback via video, photos or text.

I want my idea to be a central point for people to learn and engage with the government. I want access to videos made by government and others to highlight how services are being used and what is happening across the UK.

Currently you have the Number10 website to view videos and information relating to Number10. Then you have independent websites and content made by the many councils across the UK. This might be to do with education, tourism, health, crime, business, community etc.

I want to be able to access all this content under one roof and enable eachother to share experiences, guides and knowledge of living, working and using services in and around their area.

I have checked out the youtube channel for the Cabinet Office and was disappointed to find only one video. Even more so that the last login was one year ago. I want my channel idea to incorporate public service videos made by the different government departments to inform and educate people.

These videos could cover public policy, leadership, the system of voting, how they serve you, day in the life of an MP, current challenges faced by government, the importance of tax etc. They can also click on a location and view videos and content of how money is being spent or how services have improved etc.

This government channel enables people to literally watch the government in action and view what it does and what people think.

What information or services do you need?

google maps, ordnance surveys, neigbourhood stats, post codes

Metadata service

Submitted by: Dave Morris

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

A quick look through the data available throws up several different data formats (XML, RDF, Excel, ZIP etc), transport protocols (FTP, HTTP etc), access controls (username/password, x509 certificate), and web service interfaces (SOAP, REST etc).

My idea is to provide a metadata service describing each dataset in a machine readable and human readable way, making it much easier for others to develop applications that combine data from different data sets.

I have seen quite a few interesting suggestions for different ways of combining the available data, but many if not all of them rely on access to the data in a common machine readable format.
For example :

•         Project Omninity
  • Description : GoogleMaps display of everything
  • Requires : Anything and everything
•         Directgov in the wild
  • Description : Commenting and discussing Directgov data.
  • Requires : Directgov content library in XML format
•         Eureka Moments
  • Description : overlays datasets on one another to try to produce unexpected alignments
  • Requires : All the available information sets will be useful
•         Geographic / Temporal Dataset Correlation
  • Description : Finds correlations between geographic and temporal datasets.
  • Requires : Access to public statistical data, broken down over similar time periods

I have also seen quite a few people suggesting some form of central repository or index of the available data.

•         Central Data Store
  • Description : Central store for (public) data from all government agencies
•         Online UK Awareness
  • Description : (XML) framework for public data sources
•         FreeData Live
  • Description : One point of access for all freely available data
•         UK Data Point
  • Description : A framework with regard to how information is queried and reported.
•         UK Information Portal
  • Description : A portal where people can find exactly what data is available.

The common thread across all of these suggestions is that before we can really begin to use the data in new ways, we need to develop the infrastructure that makes it easy to access the data.

Will Young's idea of a Central Data Store is one way of addressing the problem, but as Chris Osborne points out in a comment, it raises "quite a few practical concerns", particularly with how to handle the "mountains of data" that could be generated.

I have spent the last 5 years working as a software developer for a UK eScience funded project as part of an international consortium to developing a common set of APIs and data formats for describing, querying and accessing scientific data from around the world.
I would like to apply the ideas and knowledge gained from the eScience project to develop a metadata service that would make it easier for others to use the available datasets.

Based on my experience with the eScience project, I think a better approach would be to leave the data where it is, but provide a common metadata syntax for describing the datasets and how to access them.

I think Chris Osborne's suggestion of establishing a set of "Public Body metadata standards" containing "stuff like dataset description, creation dates, resolution, standardised tagging..." is a better way to address the problem.

So my proposal is to define a simple metadata standard for describing the datasets, and develop a reference implementation of a metadata service that would enable the data providers to describe their datasets using a common metadata syntax.

With this in place, it would make it much easier to implement many of the great ideas for combining data from different datasets which have already been proposed.

What information or services do you need?

Access to as many of the datasets as possible in order to create the metadata describing them.

Public Health Research Data Source

Submitted by: Clive Mitchell

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Epidemiology is the study of disease at a population level. Traditionally, studies involve recruiting large representative samples of volunteers to ask them questions about their mental and physical health and what they know about their environments. Some studies are granted access to physical samples, medical records and ultimately, cause of death.

There are many questions to which volunteers cannot reply, either because they have never known the answer or, due to ill health or advanced age, they have forgotten. By gaining access to local data and tying it in with replies from volunteers (with their permission, via, say, their postcode), more links may be found between environmental factors and public health. Historical data can be tied in with changes in a locality's public health to more accurately determine factors.

In this way we can better understand which environmental factors most need changing to improve people's health in a locality.

What information or services do you need?

Almost anything which can be tied to a locality and which may affect physical or mental health, e.g.

  Pollution types and levels (chemical, noise, etc.)
  Pollen counts.
  Weather patterns.
  Distance to and frequency of public transport.
  Availability of local services.
  Local demographics.
  Crime rates.
  Geographical relief.

Baby Blob

Submitted by: Kevin Heavey

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Baby Blob will use the NHS's Choices API, for gleaning new born baby statistics such as weight, sex, and breast fed or bottle fed data. The default state of the site will display the weight data translated into a visual representation of the total mass of all the new born babies born in the UK. The amorphous fleshy animated blob (java or flash based) would be shown next to an object used to represent the real world scale of the growing blob. Initially we could use busses and small houses as scale indication of the size of the total baby mass. As time goes on and the blob grows with the new born data, famous large landmarks and buildings would be used to show scale. The blob will have an animated lifelike fluid behaviour, and be able to split, divide and change colour if filtered for data other than just weight. Blobs can be generated for individual years and compared historically.

What information or services do you need?

NHS choices API, new born baby statistics

Local Scene

Submitted by: Wollie Boehm

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The idea is to create a website that graphically shows a geographical representation of a local business and leisure areas in order to indicate important, but often overlooked, features such as: pedestrian walk ways, bus & routes and stops (sheltered/unsheltered), disabled access, benches, public amenities (toilets), facilities (autobanks, Wifi access), businesses (anything from banks to coffee shops including galleries, libraries, exhibitions, markets, taxi ranks, cab companies etc.) so that a user can easily plan and visualise a journey or series of personal business and social activities more easily.  This can serve both abled and disabled users as well as help elderly people who are concerned about access to amenities, resting places, rain shelters over bus stops and places to safely sit and wait for transport or appointments.

The non personal data like public transport routes and stops, traffic reports, weather, road works, congestion, business addresses and locations can all serve as the back bone of the site. The users will be encourage to write reviews of all the features and facilities on the website thus giving a more accurate experiential representation. E.g bus stop X reputedly provides shelter and seating for commuters, however in reality the seats are covered in bubblegum and the shelter side pane has been shattered allowing all the wind and rain to blow in.

Functionality of the website should include being able to browse all the "features" (businesses, buildings, facilities, amenities, public transport, etc.) of a local area or street within a predefined radius or along a particular route. They should be able to select which features they want to see concurrently on the map and be able to click on each feature to access more information (perhaps a URL to the site of the feature, or a review or comments section on how other users experienced that feature. They should be able to write their own reviews of features or experiences.

What information or services do you need?

Maps (2d/&3d), traffic data (real time or as close to), public transport routes and timetables (real time), list of  businesses, public buildings, service locations and their addresses and contact info; facilities and amenities data; weather report (real time) - any and all data that can contribute to providing a more detailed and accurate representation and thus resulting in a more informed view of the area the user is wanting to visit. Naturally not all the data needs to be included from the start. I would recommend incremental development and inclusion of the sets of data.

Regeneration Time Warp

Submitted by: Lucy F

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Layers of public spending data are put against time. As well as a zoom scale to produce a more detailed map, the regeneration time warp will enable the user to travel back to see how their communities have grown over time and benefited from public spending and investment in development. Local councils will be accountable to their communities, who will have an easy and clear way to see what is spent around them.

This data is already available, but incomprehensible to the general public. With a visual representation, those with little financial expertise can understand their region.

Citizens are more satisfied with public service provision if there is more transparency and ownership. By providing an accessible way to present data, citizens will be encouraged to be more engaged in public services.

What information or services do you need?

Data on public spending on regeneration, development.

Mapping data from Ordnance Survey.

Sharing Land Ownership Data

Submitted by: Andrew Poole

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Click on a field in a GIS system and find contact details for the owner. The Land Registry must have some of this information. However because of the cost and barriers of searching this, local government departments who use this information collect their own from scratch. For example my colleagues in the Rights of Way team of a large County Council rely on local knowledge and letters to Parish Councils to check who owns which field, before they can write to owners and occupiers to consult about any works which are planned. Presumably the Highways department in the same authority, planning departments in District Councils, Defra, the Rural Payments Agency, Nature England etc are all needing to check landowners and have their own separate files. These may not even be computerised, even when all of them are using GIS systems for so much other spatial data.

MediScan

Submitted by: Stephen Robinson

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

I was watching a TV program last night about Car crime and using the number plate recognition cameras, in one case they stopped a car and the driver refused to give his name -- this is when the police brought out a new device they are trying "The Lantern" (A mobile fingerprint device), it takes 2 minutes to scan and search the national database to find a match.

This got me thinking, what if the NHS used a similar device to find out a patients medical history and even downloaded the patient's medical file to a Tablet - giving medical staff all up to date medical information on a particular patient within minutes (also avoiding mistakes getting medical records mixed up), just by scanning there index finger. This could also prove useful in an A & E department if a patient comes in unconscious or unable to give medical staff there name to trace any medical records. One simple scan and within minutes all the medical information about that patient -- valuable time saved and correct medicine used.

This could also be deployed to ambulances maybe in a cut down mobile version.

What information or services do you need?

scanning service, mobile data company and medical data.

Competition closes 30 September, not long now ...

This is just a quick reminder that our competition closes on 30 September or Tuesday next week. You have one week to get in your killer idea or build your working prototype.

So what are we looking for? We are looking for ideas that help people. This is your information and we are looking for ideas that help you in your day to day life.

If you are seeking some inspiration, or just looking to help, then please have a look at the ideas already submitted. Comment on your favourite idea and help refine it into the idea that wins!

In case you have forgotten what is on offer we have two prizes:

• £20,000 prize pool to develop winning ideas to the next level - we will find you a partner to help develop your idea so that its potential can be realised.
• £20,000 prize pool for prototypes - We will award cash prizes for the best prototypes submitted to the competition.

Now best of luck and get cracking!

iPhone journey planner

Submitted by: Allan Johns

Website: http://N/A

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Current generation iPhones have GPS capability, so it makes sense for Londoners (as well as other city dwellers) to have access to an application which performs common functions quickly and easily. Such common functions would include:

* show nearest tube stop, and if nearing the end of the night, the time of the last train(s);

* show how to most easily get to a given destination from the user's current location... simple filters would be supplied to include/exclude transport types (similar to tfl website), and a list of often-used destinations would be provided automatically.

* display station locations/travel routes via google maps.

The project need not be restricted to this product though, as it could serve as the initial phase of a general mobile rollout of tfl's transport data. Other platforms, such as Google's Android mobile app framework, are being released in the near future, and the mobile app market will only grow bigger.

* For clarification - standard websites, such as the existing tfl website, are not well suited to use on a mobile device such as an iPhone, hence the existence of application frameworks like Apple's iPhone SDK. The project I describe is, in my opinion, going to be a necessity for tfl and other city transport initiatives, as the content is perfectly suited to mobile devices (for obvious reasons!).

What information or services do you need?

* google maps or equivalent;

* travel data as provided on the tlf website (for example). So a web service to this data would be necessary, I'm not sure if this already exists or not.

My Itinerary

Submitted by: Peter Stoner

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Most route and journey planning sites expect you to print out the instructions or the journeys you select.  Some enable them to be sent to your mobile phone but they just end up as messages in your mail box.  The data is fixed at the point at the enquiry was made and difficult to read in bad light or a rainstorm. 

How much better it will be if whatever enquiry system you are using you can save the information to a personal account in a format that is easily downloaded to your mobile phone or pda.  Relevant background data can also be saved so that the data can quickly be refreshed or the enquiry altered. 

Proposed features

• view itineraries on a map or in time and date order
• forward links to your phone/pda diary
• order and save E-tickets as part of the itinerary
• opt to receive adverts for accommodation, events or food at any point en-route
• follow route in real time, linked to clock or gps, depending on capabilities of phone/pda
• record actual times and opt to feed these back to the transport operator
• send written feedback

What information or services do you need?

All the main, publicly funded routing and public transport journey planners to provide their location and time information in a new syntax so that they can work with the new system and give a lead to private sector routing, journey planning and ticketing systems.

RAPID RESPONSE - Know Now

Submitted by: Mahmood Choudhury

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

You ask a question or select what you would like to do and it gives you the time scale in which to expect an answer.

You then add any optional information such as the area you live in or what type of service your query relates to. You will also be able to track the progress of your query online until it is resolved.

The answer could be from a simple YES or NO, directions, maps to more complex things such as application tracking, grants, permissions to introducing a new government bill into action etc. It will detail the steps to take and relevant resources to answer your question or query clearly.

This could be from less than a second, less than a minute, 1 day, 1 week or 1 year depending on nature of query.

It will then allow you to select how you wish to receive the answer -

SMS text, email, video, fax, post or online

Examples of queries and timescales

LESS THAN 1 MINUTE

local directions and map routes
timetables
opening hours
general query
checking traffic or delays
view statistics
posting and sharing comments

10 MIN TO 1 HOUR

local query
text response
picture upload
text messaging
asking for another person's own experience
personal question
report a crime or vandalism
paying rent, fees, charges or bills
reporting litter, rubbish or vandalism

1 DAY

customer complaint reply
low level review
written article
video response
comparisons of services
booking an appointment
personal question
query registration databases

UP TO 1 WEEK

In-depth article or piece of research
personal complaint about a service
asking someone to find out something
comparisons of services
Opinions of an issue
Repairs and maintennance
booking a service (medical, restaurant, gym etc)
apply for jobs and permits
small consultations
querying status of benefits, repairs or other issues
requesting information leaflets or brochures
seeing a local councillor
booking an appointment with an MP

UP TO 1 YEAR OR MORE

Starting a community project
Acquire specific funding
Planning permission
Building or creating a service for others
Finding the right people
Creating new projects and services
Creating new groups and social awareness of issues
New government bills and regulations that people request
Apply for school places and educational grants
Starting a new business (cafe, shop, stall, salon etc)
Community consultations
Applying for a passport
Applying for a patent

What information or services do you need?

maps, stats, postcode data, health and neighbourhood stats

Dying: All you wanted to know about dying but didn't know who to ask.

Submitted by: Carolyne Haynes

Website: http://Not yet!

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The aim of this website is to bring together as much information on dying as possible to help those who are either facing it themselves or are helping someone else cope.
Why?

When my mother was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer she asked me what kind of a death it would be. Not an unreasonable question and one that was in my mind as well. Would it be lengthy, painful, require hospitalisation and so on. Being able to prepare yourself as well as possible seemed to be a practical first step. The GP said it could either be slow/fast and painful/not so painful. The local hospice said come to us only in the final stages without telling us what those might be. The cancer care nurses, the ones my mother had spent so many years raising money for, were mysteriously unavailable and also said they could only help when it was near the end, but how do you know when that is? What are the signs?

There was little information on the Internet or in books. When you are busy trying to support the patient to get back home, get nursing care, get morphine etc.there is not the time for extensive research.
What ended up being incredibly helpful for me was a diary that someone had written of her husband's last days. This was an informal but detailed account and as it happens was very similar to my mother's death. Knowing what to expect (and not to be frightened by it) was invaluable.
With more and more of us ending up as informal carers at home, being in charge of a dying person is likely to be a relatively frequent occurrence. It is also unforgiveable that people continue to die in less than ideal circumstances in hospital and this is still where most of us will end our lives. Sitting on the complaints committee in an acute hospital leads me to believe that we do not always do the care of the dying bit very well.

Informing the patient, and probably more importantly their relatives, about best practice would help them to make sure that they a. get the best treatment/care and b. understand what is happening during this critical time.

I believe that a website run by the NHS but supported by other outside organisations could be a very valuable resource. it would cover areas such as local provision, what equipment is available, end of life care in your local hospital, clinical information or links to other sites, and, most important, other people's experiences.

What information or services do you need?

I envisage the website having the following information:

1. Simple data collection: this part of the site could be put together relatively easily. The framework can be national but with local additions so that variations in local provision can be picked up. This would cover:

• The difficulties of finding a hospice in some areas
• Where to go for help eg special beds to stop pressure sores
• Home Care: what you are entitled to and how to get it
• Hospices: where is the local hospice, what services can they provide and how to access them.
• Hospitals: end of life policies and what you should be able to expect, examples of best practice
• Counselling: where to go to for help when things are not going well (this might need setting up as I do not believe there is such a thing. It might be possible to link with hospital chaplains in some way)
• Details on death: as much information on dying as is clinically possible (this is very difficult but there is information out there and some of it should be relatively easy to collate. It can be simple things such as what would be eligible for morphine. )
• Blogs: I see this as the most important part of the site. People helping themselves, it was so good to have someone else's words to help get through my own experience and I would be very willing to write down my experience for others. If people started to do this not only would a wide range of illnesses be quickly covered but more and more information would be available for other uses as well.

Local To Me

Submitted by: Sanj Raj

Website: http://www.jardevelopments.com/suabwprototype/

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Local To Me is web service where members of the public enter a postcode and/or street name to access local information relating to their area and surrounding areas. This information includes information such as demographics, education, housing, health, crime, investments, local news,travel and weather.   

In addition the public can use the Advanced Search function to search for and access detailed information relating to their personal and specific needs. This could for example include planning permission applications, local transport timetables and information on the top 3 schools in the area.

The purpose of Local To Me is to contain all local information effecting the public on one site ensuring it is easy to find, instead of having to search for it on different websites. With the current central and local government websites some of the simplest information is scattered across websites and often buried deep making it nearly impossible to find.

As opposed to a specific group of people, Local To Me is aimed to assist a diverse range of people and the public from all ages and backgrounds who want to access local information quickly and easily.  This could include anyone from busy parents wishing to access information on local schools, to the elderly who want access the local news and events, to the working professional who wishes to access information on local property prices, traffic updates for in preparation for the journey home from work or indeed their local GP Practice.

The use of Local to Me is not restricted to seasonal trends, neither does it have a shelf life.  By growing the support of local information providers, councils and organisations this is a website that can be enhanced and used by the public on a daily and ongoing basis.

With such accessibility of information in one place, and with the site promoting users for interaction and to play an active part in their community where applicable, Local Authorities and local organisations can benefit too.

Key features/services that are displayed on Local to Me include:

News -Local news and articles
Weather  - 7 day local forecast
Traffic - real time traffic updates, including maps
Local amenities and upcoming events within the area
Education - information on schools, education centres, detailing contacts, age groups, catchments, current and previous inspection reports and grades as well as childcare facilities
Health - information on local hospitals, health centres, PCT, GP surgeries, contacts locations, current and previous inspection reports
Property - local statistics, prices, local planning applications within desired range
Crime - reports and figures for crime and safety
Demographics - population age, background, sex etc, labour market statistics e.g. average wages, working age, unemployment, local industries, occupation type, labour supply, education, trends  etc
Local Authority Links - including:
-Department contacts, details, cost and budgets reports
-Planning applications. Allow the resident to adjust the radius of applications since they may not want to view applications that are 2 miles away but only ones that are 200 metres away.
-Interaction - send pictures via phone or camera  of vandalism, graffiti, dumped rubbish, abandon vehicles etc to the council for action
-Contact the council depts using an online form with real time updates as to its status. (E.g. Received, acknowledge, in-progress, being actioned, closed etc)
-Search Function - users can specifically search for information relating to their personal needs e.g top 3 schools in the area

Remember, information can be searched for by using the Advanced Search function.

Local to Me will tie in with all the local central and public organisations, providing the public with up to date information.

A mobile version of the above site is also available, so users can view the information from their mobile phones.

A prototype of this website can be viewed at : www.jardevelopments.com/suabwprototype/

A mobile version of this website can be viewed on your mobile phone at: m.jardevelopments.com

What information or services do you need?

Statistical data from Local Authorities and related bodies, XML data, Feeds

Nanny Goat could move into a new virtual field

Submitted by: Nick

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The Horserace Totalisator Board ("the Tote") is a statutory body created by an Act of Parliament in 1928.  It is currently incorporated under the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963. The Tote is one of the principal betting organisations in Britain with more than 4,000 employees, over 540 shops, a major presence on the 59 racecourses in Britain, as well as internet and telephone betting facilities. The Tote offers a full range of fixed odds bets and also holds and operates the monopoly to conduct pool betting on horse races at race courses in the UK, which is marketed as Totepool. Total Group turnover is over £2.4billion.

A history of the Tote (aka 'Nanny Goat') is at http://corporate.totesport.com/about/history/

As can be seen, the Tote has been an early adopter and innovator in the use of IT. For a variety of reasons in recent years it has perhaps failed to keep up this level of innovation; in particular, despite it having an unrivalled footprint and databases it hasn't tapped into the potential benefits of co-creation and co-production.

The Tote already displays on its screens at racecourses and online the pool data. The idea is a very simple one. Make available to anyone who wants it the real time pool data. In addition, at minimal extra effort, provide a simple facility to provide historical pool data.

Some of the Tote databases contain customer information. Let me be clear,  I am not asking for any personal information.

The main benefits of the proposed initiative are:

- Stimulate an ecosystem of developers and co-producers

- Enhance the service available to Tote customers

- Increase revenue for the Tote and hence value to HMG

- Provide, alongside other integrity measures, enhanced transparency, and hence confidence in, the UK betting market

- Provide academics and researchers with unique data sets on the UK public's betting behaviours as well as providing a ongoing rich and living data repository  on the 'wisdom of crowds'.

I accept that there is a fair amount of uncertainty as to the future of the Tote. As announced again on 21 July... "The Government has begun preparations for a possible sale of the Tote on the open market in the autumn, Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said in a written statement to Parliament today.

However he made it clear that no final decision to launch a sale has been taken and that the Government will need to be satisfied that it is right to proceed with a sale in the light of market conditions at the time."

Many people expect that this won't be resolved quickly.

Regardless, if enacted, the simple proposal outlined above would enhance the value of the Tote to customers, citizens and owner.

What information or services do you need?

Access to real time pool data

Access to historical data.

Effectis - What happens if...?

Submitted by: Mahmood Choudhury

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The "butterfly effect" is a term that encapsulates the more technical idea of chaos theory. That is to say,  small variations of an initial condition within a dynamic system may produce large variations in the long term behaviour of the system.

The two main questions it seeks to answer are :

1- Will the system settle down to a steady state in the long term ?

2- Does the long-term behaviour of the system depend on its initial condition ?

The most famous conception to describe this is using the analogy of a butterfly flapping its wings. When doing so, it creates minute variations in conditions that ultimately create a huge change in another system - the weather - thus causing a hurricane on the other side of the world. 

The hypothetical cause and effect scenario is greatly inflated to show how one or two variables can indeed affect a change within a system.

Everything in the universe is a system within a system - the weather, money, energy, time, population, disease etc. All elements from the biggest galaxies to the tiniest atoms are interlinked and affect eachother in some intricate way.

No event is ever an isolated cause nor can it occur by itself without the initial conditions to ignite it.

Complex systems such as the weather can be modelled in advance using pre-determined data to predict a future outcome. Other examples include human economies, telecommunication infrastructures, the stockmarket and an ecosystem.

So what ?

I want to use the government datasets to create a product that people can use. It is based upon chaos theory and futurenetics. You will be able to state conditions and alter variables to see their wide ranging effects.

For example :

- what would happen if I increased the crime rate by 2.35% in area x - would the property prices plummet ?

- if pollution levels around a town decreased will this lead to better GCSE grades ?

- if government expenditure was cut by 3.24% in area Z would this increase flow of traffic or the time it takes for me to get to work?

- if I stopped the flow of traffic within a certain area would this affect local health resources ?

- how well would the economy improve if crime was cut and waiting times halved ?

This coupled with statistics would enable people to predict or play around with ideas and scenarios. I have been fascinated how a change in the 10p tax rate cut has affected so many people in the UK. In addition to how a change in the economy of the US has caused massive shock waves and ripples around the world resulting in the credit crunch.

It would be a fascinating and educational tool to help people understand cause and effect. School children can use it to see the effects of their actions on the environment and adults can see how it links in with their lives.

All of us are affected by conditions in some way or another and to know its causes and possible implications can help us to best prepare for the worst.

This can include disaster management, disease outbreaks, crime and population control, crowd disorder, food rationing etc.

Once you have an idea of what causes an event, its growth level and its direction then you can predict its eventual outcome. This is with simple systems such as A=B or during a sporting event on a summers day, the sales of ice cream will increase - therefore an efficient supply chain needs to be in place to meet the demand.

Using the government datasets combined with statistical modelling technology you will have an amazing product that educates, informs and entertains.

What information or services do you need?

Neighbourhood Statistics, Transport information from Transport Direct, Health care services and information from the NHS, Notices from the London Gazette, Address Data from the Royal Mail, A list of all the schools in England and Wales from the Department of Children, Schools and Families, Mapping from Ordnance Survey, Google Maps, Public Spending information from HM Treasury, Weather and Road data

MeshPotato

Submitted by: Mahmood Choudhury

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

WHAT IS A MESHUP ?

MeshUp is a next step of the mashup in the sense to merge and integrate different data sources and processing devices. It uses new information and communication technologies to collect and merge data and contents in new integrated applications, communication and information services.

HOW IT RELATES TO YOU ?

You are the centre of your world and it revolves around your needs.

You need to know instantly who, what, where, when, why and how ?

It could relate to crime, health, traffic, pollution, education - anything that connects to you and affects you as a person.

You do not want to click between different websites or windows to compare, analyse, read and find out information.

You want to view everything in one place - one screen and in one go.

You type in your postcode and then it presents you with a visual construct of all the bits of information it connects to. This could include any news content, articles, reports, stats etc.

What you would see when you typed in your postcode is a spider diagram with a map in its centre. As you click on different areas of the map or locations, the content in the windows would change and update.

For example, you typed in postcode XL1 2DW - this would show up as a map location. You will then be able to see all related content about crime, education, spending, news etc in related windows beside the map.

There will be windows and sections that show different elements of information sourced from data sets and the internet.

So whilst you are looking at school data for your local area you can view related content from Youtube in a small window. You can view traffic alerts in real time as a ticker tape or view web cam streams that show what it looks like.

You will also have options where you can compare or find out directions between locations. For example, you type in XL1 2DW and YG1 6FC. It will then show you all the information that links these two locations together.

Everything is related to everything else - it is just about finding the right associations that links information together.

With this tool you can search many datasets and have related content sourced from the Internet all in one go. It is like searching Google, Yahoo, Lycos, MSN and BBC in one go and having the results displayed side by side.

Different information content will be integrated with each other to present the user with a rich, multi faceted user interface. 

This would be useful when wanting to find out about crime in and around your area. You type in a location and it then shows you related news content, youtube videos, images and stats.

For example, if you are viewing crime stats about your area it will also display any related user generated content uploaded by others. This could be videso or images that alert or show crime or warnings. This could include CCTV footage of a crime that took place near where you live or any images taken by people on their phones etc.

In this way you get more in-depth information that is centred around a specific query but sourced from many different locations.

Content would be updated regularly from the different sources so you are kept up to date with the latest news, developments, stats, facts and information.

What information or services do you need?

maps, traffic data, population data, health, postcode data, schools, pollution, crime data

Open up TfL with an API

Submitted by: James O'Malley

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

You only have to look at the Google Maps API or the Twitter API to see how flexible it is and the projects that come out of it. Why not open up the TfL route planning data to similar API calls?

This would allow people to write applications that can harness this live route planning data - perhaps with the option to send a start and end point to the API, and to return back the various route options. This would allow developers to make applications for, say, s60 mobile phones or iPhones that can plan routes, and these apps could use the phone's GPS and so on to make route planning more effective. Another example could be someone putting together a Google Maps mash-up that visualises the various route options, or merely does it in a less clunky way than the actual TfL website.

On a similar note, as Oyster cards log journeys made, it would be excellent if this data could be made available via an API if a person's authentication details are sent (á la the Twitter API) - this could lead to better location-based web services, as for example, someone could write a website/script/program/etc that monitors for touching in and out of places by users, then automatically sends the location to Yahoo Fire Eagle, which will in turn send the location data to many other location- based services.

What information or services do you need?

TfL route-planning back-end, all of the data on timetables, stations, live data on closures and delays and so on. For the secondary idea an individual's Oyster data would need to be sent about securely.

Feed Me

Submitted by: David Durant

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

This is a simple one technically - just needs agreement from the various departments to agree to keep up to date.

Someone has created a hand-made list here: http://www.informationoverlord.co.uk/?p=162

List would be much better officially run with it's own feed!

What information or services do you need?

Agreement to centralise RSS feed information and keep up to date.

Minimal web page overhead with its own feed.

Do You Live Lucky ?

Submitted by: Mahmood Choudhury

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The term "postcode lottery" has been used to describe the seemingly random countrywide variations in the quality of public services available. The gap between the best and worst and how where you live can dictate the quality of your life.

The main area in which it is most often used is when referring to the NHS - waiting times, care, GP availability, obesity, access to NHS drugs etc.

The "inverse care law" states that generally the poorer you are, and more socially deprived your area - the worse your care and access to services is likely to be.

This has wide ranging implications for people in terms of longevity and the ultimate quality of their life. Recent media coverage has spoken of the discrepancy between areas where standard of health affects mortality rates.

When people move to an area or a country to start a new life they look at and consider many factors. These can include economic, social, mental and political variables. All these combined determine where a person chooses to live and how well their quality of life is.

I want to create a service product using the government datasets to enable people to see how different factors result in value of living. They can see possible differences in how location affect quality of life and life span.

For example, I can type in a postcode and then select six variables out of a total of forty nine. Each variable will present me with a factor that I will rate as the top of my list. So my ideal postcode area would have as its top variable - employment followed by health, education, safety, cultural diversity then environment.

These six are my golden ratios or numbers that I think are most important to me and where I want to live. Using these variables I can then see what area postcode within the UK closely matches my requirements. I can then see out of each variable how many people had selected it.

This would enable me to determine in my standard how valuable a certain area is to live and the quality of life I could expect.

There have been many surveys and studies to determine what affects people's standards of living. These include The Happy Planet Index where countries are measured on human well being and environmental impact (Vanuatu tops the list).

Then there is the World Values Survey which assesses the state of sociocultural, moral, religious and political values of different cultures around the world.

Finally, there is a mathematical model that uses factors to arrive at an equation. Its components are :

(Qi) individual's overall quality of life =

sum of :

status on quality x relative importance of quality +
c (constant to balance differences between scaling)

What information or services do you need?

Neighbourhood Statistics, Transport information from Transport Direct, Health care services and information from the NHS, Notices from the London Gazette, Address Data from the Royal Mail, A list of all the schools in England and Wales from the Department of Children, Schools and Families, Mapping from Ordnance Survey, Google Maps, Public Spending information from HM Treasury, Weather and Road data

LooFinder

Submitted by: Angie Porter

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Just text your location ("postcode" or "street name") to a free call number or visit the website. You will get an answer giving you information about the nearest public toilet.

This information service provides the location, map, opening hours and facilities available at the toilet.

Alternativly people can visit the website and put in "postcode" or "street name" get the same information.

This idea especially helps older people and parents with children where difficulty finding a toilet can be very stressful. 

It would also help the many festival and concerts goers visiting Tower Hamlets.

Generally LooFinder would make the streets a more relaxing place to be, knowing that wherever you are in Tower Hamlets, you could always find a toilet when you need to go.

What information or services do you need?

Information about public toilets in Tower Hamlets including location, map, opening hours and facilities available at the toilet.

Also, Map data (google maps).

The C2C Exchange

Submitted by: Mahmood Choudhruy

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Throughout the UK there are communities that are thriving and others that are not. This is due to many factors including availability of economic resources, people working together and social action.

I want to enable communities across the UK to come together and help one another to learn, grow and develop. This would be done by exchanging ideas that have been implemented successfully, local projects that have been started and skilled people that have made it happen.

This Exchange will enable the transfer of knowledge capital and skill power to areas that need it most. You may have run down areas within communities that need regeneration but do not have the resources or vision to make it happen.

One community can learn from another in terms of how to start-up projects, inspire people and make a difference to its residents.

Community leaders can come together to share experiences, knowledge, resources and discuss ways of bridging the divide between what needs to be done and ways to make it happen

They can also pitch for funding and advice from other communities, organisations or people. This could include workshops, free advice from business leaders and access to government grants etc.

In addition to this, communities can hire people and source resources from one another. For example, a director of an successful organisation in one area can be hired to give advice or guidance in a community that wants to start a regeneration project.

From my personal experience, the number one cause of a community not progressing is in not having a vision and the right people to move it forward. You may have the right people and a great vision but are lacking in leadership, financial resources and the know-how to make it a reality.

This will be an online platform to find out about projects near you, find and source key people with the right leadership, vision and skills to regenerate a community. It will also enable members of different communities to come together to share ideas, experiences and knowledge with one another.

I want to translate what has worked in one community and take it to another - be it local projects, groups, people etc and make a social difference.

What information or services do you need?

maps, ordnance survey maps, neighbourhood stats, health stats, postcode tool

Your Weather

Submitted by: Steve

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Based on a specific lat/long point submitted, the Met Office data would return a five day forecast for that specific location.

What information or services do you need?

Met Office forecast data

Price of Working

Submitted by: David Durant

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Potential issues with any new employment include the cost of transport and how long it takes to get to and from work - for example if the worker has to pick up kids from school.

This system could be connected to the current job seekers network so that when workers are given lists of jobs to apply for it would also supply travel costs (with descriptions of travel methods used) and estimated travel times (at different times of day) for each job.

What information or services do you need?

Home location of worker, list of postcodes of potential new jobs, transport connections system (TFL for example), transport pricing information, etc.

Community Activities Mapping

Submitted by: steve faragher KensingtonVision CIC

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The CAM is a Social Network overlayered onto a Google Map. It would also the statutory sector to measure the level of communtiy involvement, groups, individuals and organisation which operate in an area (council ward, Neighbourhood, etc).It would allow communication to take place and knowledge and information to flow around community. Users would register and have a log in, their profile would allow sharing, of information, communicate with all users or subsets, shares doucments, photos videos, contact details, opinions, thoughts etc. It helps a community in general, it shows how active a community is and it empowers the communciate as it is self managed.

What information or services do you need?

The information is provided by the people who log in, but obviosuly statutory orgs might want to put stats on there.

Choose your own path

Submitted by: Colin Garnett

Website: http://www.youthreaction.org/quiz.php

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The idea is best for scenarios where there is not one definitive answer. Individuals are able to read through the comic strip and see what issues are affecting them and other individuals (the example we have produced is for bullying), the indiviudaul then gets a list of options for what they can do next. Each option has information on what might happen to them, provided to us by local authorities, such as schools, the police, etc. Finally there are links to websites which may provide useful information and advice.

What information or services do you need?

We require information off local authorities and governing bodies on any issues we cover. We cannot give the answers to the issues but need to give the people the right advice for the right option. We would also need statistics to add to the comic strip, i.e. 25% of under 12's feel bullied either at home or at school, these stats would show individuals that they are not alone.

My Carbon House

Submitted by: Alun Jones

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

We have to reduce our carbon footprint by 60% by 2050 to make a positive difference to our future world.
20% of our estimated CO2 budget is due to the houses in which we live and the energy we use when in them. They are not carbon efficient and reduction of our carbon house print is necessary to meet these targets.
Visiting every house to measure this is a near impossible task.
Good models exist for estimating the CO2 emissions from houses, if we know something about them, e.g. their built form, age, floor area etc.
Using Land Registry house data, with Google maps, address data and a carbon emission model we could create a web site to display the location of houses, colour coded with their estimated CO2 emissions - a baseline UK property CO2 map; this could be grouped into community, parish, ward and even city maps.
Home owners could update this with their own information, e.g. solar roof panels, low energy bulbs etc to see the impact their energy conservation actions have on their CO2 emissions.
This will inform residents, local authorities, community groups, housing trusts even energy companies of hot spot areas for targeting energy reduction action plans or highlighting 'green areas' for community awards.

What information or services do you need?

Housing data - location, age, type, address
House height
Procesing to run Carbon emission model
A mash up to put locations of houses on Google maps with programming to select carbon reduction measures

Influential Isle

Submitted by: John Hart

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

This is a different cut on British history (and present day national performance), with information presented not by date or theme but to illustrate two propositions:

1. Britain was the key nation in the development of the modern world

2. Britain continues to make a disproportionate contribution to the modern world

The nation has an extraordinary pioneering accomplishments across the sciences, technology, literature, the arts and any number of other fields of endeavour. We were the key nation in the development of the modern world, bar none: one thinks of the scientific revolution, the industrial revolution and the second agricultural revolution. We discovered all of the three main subatomic particles and a quarter of the elements of the periodic table. We achieved the first classification of clouds and wind and we first described biological cells and nuclei. One thinks of Newton, Darwin, Shakespeare, Jane Austen and 007, pausing along the way to contemplate our invention of the paperclip and the elastic band.

The database would be an inspiring, colourful and fun alternative history, guaranteed to scintillate and inspire every section of society and in particular the rising generation of boys and girls. I am amazed to note the general ignorance in the population of Britain's startling record of achievements.

What information or services do you need?

I have already assembled a first-draft database of British accomplishments. This needs to be uploaded to a website and searchable by location, date, theme etc. That is the recommended first step and is useful on its own.

So there could be a top-level list, but there could also be regional and local lists, industrial sector lists, and special interest lists (eg sports, arts etc).

Apart from a website, the Influential Isle List could also be distributed at presentations across the nation to schoolchildren and others, by volunteer mentors. The list could also be used as the basis for exhibitions, a book, whatever.

The pay off? Knowledge of our track record of pioneering should be at the core of our national self-esteem, catapulting us to greater things in our own lives. Yes, it's a potentially nation-inspiring project, as we approach an Olympic Games in London in 2012, an event that will need the utmost in self-belief.

CCTV Watch

Submitted by: David Durant

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

The UK has a staggering 4 million CCTV cameras but there is limited public knowledge of their usage or link between tax spend and criminal conviction / crime prevention.

To allow a by-borough break down of the usage of CCTV cameras throughout the UK to be build by volunteers (along with related information)

Assess in each case:
* Whether the council is operating it's CCTV by the ICO Code of Practice
* How much information the council is willing to supply about camera locations, data retention, expenditure and convictions secured due to CCTV footage

ICO guidelines : www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/deta...
/cctv_code_of_practice.pdf

What information or services do you need?

* Google Maps council overlay map for the UK.
* CCTV related information from councils.
* Crime / crime prevention data from equivalent areas.

The Missing List

Submitted by: Paul Burridge

Website: http://www.themissinglist.co.uk

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

RECOGNISING A NEED

In the UK we have 53 police forces each with its own distinctive character and individual ideas on how to interface with the public. These differences are made most visibly manifest in their web sites.

If you are interested in a national picture of what is happening in policing, not statistically but right now, there should be no better place to start than to view the UK police websites.

However, to garner any meaningful information a viewer has to become familiar with the individual styles of 53 police webmasters.

This works entirely against what is, arguably, the most important function of a police website; to stimulate a reciprocal flow of information between the police and the population that they serve.

Recognising this we took on a twofold task

[1] To aggregate all police constabulary appeals and outreach initiatives on a single national web platform

[2] To use the Internet in such a way as to enhance the reciprocal flow of information between the police and the general population.

RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN

We engaged in an extensive programme of research which involved a broad sample of those individuals and organisations involved in prevention, mitigation of and recovery from, the effects of crime and criminal behaviour.

We presented our ideas to frontline police officers and communications officers across the country and set up structured telephone interviews with all the UK police press offices. We also engaged an ex senior police officer to advise.

This research process culminated the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) agreeing to run a three month trial of the Missing List facility.

We interviewed specialist journalists, presented our ideas to and gathered information at Insurance industry forums and interviewed leading charities involved in mitigating the effects of crime and loss however caused.

This research reinforced our belief in the need for our website and influenced its final form. For instance:

[1] The PSNI insisted on our involving the Garda (because criminals do not observe the niceties of the border with Eire). And we are now, in consequence, also working south of the border.

[2] One of the key questions that we asked was, "What would make your job easier to perform and have a positive impact on your effectiveness?" And in terms of acquisitive crime there was a consistent answer. "If we had a better idea of what we were looking for."

That is, if the victim could give the police officer or insurance company a clear, accurate and timely description of what they had lost.

(For example on the Missing List website there are hundreds of thousands, probably millions of pounds worth of missing musical instruments some dating from the 17th century and barely a handful even have photographs.)

Based on this response we integrated into our website a 'Virtual Safe Deposit' facility.

Anyone can store ownership information, safely and anonymously, using this facility. If 'the worst' happens they can simply print out a hard copy or email the inventory to the police and insurance company.

It's simple, quick and comprehensive, and one less thing that you have to think about in your state of loss induced crisis.

HOW THE IDEA WORKS

The majority of appeals posted on the Missing List website are from the police.

We created a web based facility that integrates appeals for information from police, charities, the insurance industry, and the general population.

Anyone from any sector can post an appeal. There are three levels of permissions required to post appeals and access account information, post, edit and delete appeals.

The highest level of permission is that of the police. Police officers can post appeals in every category, both police and civilian, throughout the site. Insurance companies and charities can post multiple appeals in the civilian areas of the site. Individuals can post single appeals in any civilian area.

For each user an 'account' is automatically created which records each appeal posted and responses. Respondents can communicate, anonymously if necessary, via the user's account or whichever other conventional means that the user stipulates.

GOOGLE MAPS/FEATURES

Each appeal which bears a postcode is automatically accompanied by a Google Map pinpointing the location of the loss/offence.

For added precision we have discarded the Google geo positioning and mashed in the Royal Mail postcode database. This does not interfere with non UK positioning such as Zip codes.

Although the full postcode is required for accurate positioning, on request from the police we only display the first half of the postcode, this does not affect the accuracy of the maps.

On each appeal entry form we offer the ability to enter latitude and longitude for very precise positioning. (This is only truly applicable to the police.) For instance, there are large areas of the UK that are not covered by postcodes, such as heath-land or forested areas where absolute precision may be essential to an appeal.

Geo-co-ordinates are used exclusively in Eire which does not have a postcode system.

Individual appeals can be viewed in a 'global' context on separate maps which aggregate crime and incidents of loss. In common with all Google Maps these can be viewed as a map, satellite view or a combination.

Police and Civilian sections each have 'global' maps which arrogate all appeals in their particular category.

Police Appeals
Fugitives
Missing Person Appeals
Civilian Appeals
Notice board

On the police map users can interrogate the database by a combination of 'police force', 'date', 'offence', 'now' or 'all'.

On the civilian map, users can interrogate the database by date and category of loss, cat, dog, jewellery etc.

Users can upload multiple images for each appeal. The principal photograph will appear on the global map.

All images uploaded appear as thumbnails and are 'clickable' to enlargements.

Police and insurance users can link to external websites.

Within the Police section there is an anonymous crime reporting facility termed 'Intelligence Report' to catch the 'impulse' informer. Reports are automatically sent via our site to the main email address of the applicable police constabulary.

There is a notice board facility whereby both police and civilian users can post notices of events and incidents that are of particular interest in a specific location/neighbourhood. These also can be viewed on a 'global' map.

There is a facility to receive RSS feeds of areas of particular interest.

Users can access information specific to their neighbourhood by entering their postcode and designating a radius.

VISUAL PRESENTATION AND TONE

Essential to our original remit is that we make the facility engaging and accessible. We have always borne in mind that we are the 'frame' and not the 'picture'. We have avoided sensationalising the look and feel, believing that the content is quite powerful enough. We have kept a neutral stance and avoided all those tempting police/crime visual cliche.

WHO DO WE HELP

We help the police
We help the insurance industry
We help the general public

We have created a tool that can be used by anyone, police or civilian, to work together to reduce crime and mitigate its effects.

It gives the civilian the opportunity of a unique policeman's eye view. It harnesses the Internet in general and Google Maps in particular to facilitate the 'big picture' view of crime in the UK not statistically but as it unfolds.

By revealing the day-to-day reality of policing it acts to win 'hearts and minds' making responses to appeals more likely.

We believe that this system will enhance the effectiveness of responses to appeals; and that the police, insurance industry, and the general public will be rewarded with greater level of recovery.

STATUS

The Missing List crime-mapping system went live in October 2007. In line with user feedback we modified and expanded our offering and we are on the second iteration of the concept.

What information or services do you need?

The Missing List system makes no claim to being statistical. The website is raw, in your face, what's happening now. And that is as we would wish it. We are proud of what we have achieved but there are obvious inconsistencies in our presentation which we wish to address.

These fall into two categories.

[1] Placing appeals in a true statistical context. The most efficient, well resourced, web focussed police forces are most represented on our maps. And this looks as if they have the most crime; which is grossly unfair. We believe that if we place our current police appeals within their true statistical context this misperception will be obviated. To do this we need access to the figures.

[2] Adding detections and court outcomes. Our site currently only presents police appeals for information; we wish to complete our offering to include the full 'life cycle' of a crime through to detections and court outcomes, including details of sentencing. For this we would need access to court data.

Election Memory

Submitted by: Mark Simpkins

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

To build a database of all the election results from across the country. This should show the results for each Ward (and therefore who stood) and the turnout. You can then access this information and build views / visualisations participatory events that can be driven by this data.
For example if it can be shown, with numbers that the results in one ward were really dependant on a small number of voters then sites and projects could be developed to push more people to the polls.
You could also allow people to compare regions, and layer a game like mechnic over the top (see which ward gets the biggest voter turnout)

What information or services do you need?

Ward information, population numbers (of people registered to vote)for each area. Returns results.

Live train running information in Google Maps 'show traffic'

Submitted by: Jem Taylor

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

Google Maps on my iPhone can show traffic data - but I use public transport.
I want to see trains  and maybe even buses as traffic data or something. The I could make more public transport journeys without pre-planning.

What information or services do you need?

I already get SMS alerts from Scotrail to tell me about late trains

www.livedepartures.co.uk knows what is happening live on the rail network

Google knows where the train stations and bus stops are

some bus stops know when the next bus is due - using SMS?

Living Community Map and fault-reporting: Council 2.0

Submitted by: Matthew Mezey

Describe your idea. How does it work and who does it help?

'Living Community Map and fault-reporting: Council 2.0' is a simple online map of a community (eg covered by a local council), where residents, Councillors, council staff - even visitors - can pinpoint the location of problems they have encountered. Residents would thus act as the 'eyes of the community', with the resulting indicators encouraging partnership, civic responsibility, accountability and discussion.

The map's interactivity would even make this a fun citizenship-building activity for schools.

Problems to be targeted might include: graffiti, damaged street furniture, speeding traffic, missing street signs, broken pavements, anti-social behaviour, abandoned vehicles, dumped rubbish, needle finds, car crime etc.

Viewing the map's indicators over time (eg clicking on a sliding bar to scroll rapidly back and forth over recent months additions on the map) would enable the Council, and residents, to intervene to nip emerging problem 'hot spots' in the bud, and also to assess the impact of past interventions and improvements.

So far this is similar to what many Councils are already doing (and to one of MySociety's initiatives) - though with the visual addition of being able to rapidly track the changing map backwards and forwards through time to see how the situation is evolving.

But I envisage a second stage where additional, perhaps more complex, experiences and feelings - including positive ones, to give balance - could also be added to the map's layers: feeling unsafe, 'walkability', enjoyment of sport, arts, culture, shopping, and environment etc.

The end result would be that a whole exciting new way to visualise community health in real-time would emerge (akin to shifting weather report isobars, or the speeded up images of high pressure systems, clouds etc).

This compelling and ever changing visual input could provide endless opportunities for discussions around interventions to improve community vitality - and for visual feedback on past efforts.

** NB This is a leap beyond MySociety's Fix-My-Street - as it offers an ever-evolving mapped visual output, along with a far wider range of experiences being mapped. The core experiences of community life could be mapped, way beyond just flytipping, dumped cars etc **

What information or services do you need?

Maps of the target community, along with location data for a range of 'healthy' or 'unhealthy' experiences that Government or local authorities may hold.

Most importantly, it requires the ability for individuals to post the location (and strength?) of different experiences they have had in their community.

The ability to scroll the community map rapidly backwards and forwards through time is also vital if this is to be the new learning tool it could be - to see hotspots and other patterns waxing and waning over time.