Five open data projects awarded Foundation funding

In partnership with the Open Data Institute, we're proud to announce we will be supporting five projects that increase access to data and drive innovation in the engineering sector, with an emphasis on improving safety.

Last year we collaborated with the Open Data Institute to publish a joint insight report on sharing engineering data, which highlighted the benefits of increasing access to data across the engineering sectors, to increase safety and drive innovation. 

Building on that work, we have launched a joint-stimulus fund that will help to support projects that will increase access to and use of data across the engineering, construction and transport sectors, with an emphasis on increasing safety.

There were excellent submissions, exploring a range of issues aligned with Lloyd's Register Foundation strategy and ODI's manifesto. We’re now pleased to announce the five projects that we will be supporting:

• The Office for National Statistics Data Science Campus will be collaborating with the Royal Air Force to develop an open source framework to analyse historical flight safety reports and improve planning of future flights
• The University of Southampton are working with the Maritime & Coast Guard Agency on a feasibility study to develop a framework for ‘open marine data’ that will help reporting and responses to incidents at sea
• Slingshot Simulations will be working with Leeds City Council to explore bringing together open data to develop a digital twin of city air quality, to inform public understanding of health issues
• Atkins will be carrying out a discovery project to inventory and prioritise datasets that can support analysis of brownfield sites for contamination
• Barbal will be supporting the Construction Knowledge Task Group to create a standard means of organising information for practitioners to help support the development of a safer built environment. 

Each of the projects involve collaboration across different organisations and will lead to the creation of a range of openly licensed outputs and data.

Over the next six months, ODI will be working with the individual projects to share insights, provide guidance and support them in working in the open. In July they will be publishing a range of case studies and a report that will illustrate how collaboration and openness can help make the world a safer place.