Communications and entertainment company Virgin Media and consumer watchdog Which? have today become the first major private-sector collaborators of the Open Data Institute (ODI). They will collaborate with ODI experts to unlock the potential of open data, to develop new services from existing assets, and to improve their customer experience.

Virgin Media and Which? are the first to join the ODI’s new membership programme. 

The ODI is hosting Code for Europe Fellows who are in London meeting open data entrepreneurs and sharing advice and ideas with one another. Code for Europe is working with city authorities across Europe to engage data technologists in exploring solutions to city challenges. 

Gavin Starks has joined a line-up of experts including leading academics, businesses and entrepreneurs to develop a ‘Smart London’ vision that puts technological innovation at the heart of making the capital a better place to live, work and invest.  

It forms part of Boris Johnson’s ambition for London to be the best big city in the world by helping businesses to harness technology and develop cutting edge ideas and products.

The US-based commercial real estate network, Honest Buildings (HB) has moved in to the ODI’s HQ.  HB, which has officially announced its expansion in to the UK this week, joins Locatable, Mastadon C, Open Corporates and Placr - start-up companies already based in the ODI's London office.

A start-up company based at the Open Data Institute has developed interactive mapping tools to help people see how the planned closure of police stations in the Capital will affect them.

Locatable has built the maps using Transport for London's journey planner database. It enables Londoners to see journey times to their nearest police station. The maps look at current travel times and then assess the journey if proposed closures take effect.

The Open Data Institute (ODI) has unveiled a new initiative that will accelerate innovative open data ideas and develop market-ready businesses.

The Open Data Immersion Programme will consist of a series of events run over three years, convening a range of data owners and data users. It will help SMEs and start-ups work with data providers, industry experts and business leaders to develop ways of using data sets to create new business opportunities.

The first survey on the use of open data by government has found that the majority of public servants agree that understanding how to access, share and use data will be increasingly important over the next three years.  Even though most of those surveyed by Listpoint didn’t fully grasp government policies or the benefits of open data, more than half agreed that ready access to data and data standards will generate new enterprises, jobs and services.

Key findings of the survey include:

Glasgow has beaten off competition from 30 other cities to win a £24m government investment in science and technology. It will use the funding to demonstrate how a city of the future will work by hosting the Technology Strategy Board’s “Future City Demonstrator”.

Announcing the investment during a visit to Glasgow, Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts said:

A bill to allow shoppers instant, online access to supermarket prices, product by product and store by store will be introduced to Parliament this week. According to the ODI, the supermarkets themselves have a lot to gain from the bill as transparency can also give a competitive advantage.

The Ten Minute Rule Bill is being introduced by Southampton MP, John Denham.  It’s aimed at wiping out practices where shoppers are misled by supposed “special offers” that end up costing the same or more as regularly priced items.

Start-ups and small businesses hoping to build products and services from open data are getting the chance to apply for a new wave of Innovation Vouchers. The £5k vouchers are going on release through the Technology Strategy Board (TSB).

Vouchers are also available for business ideas in agri-food, built environment, energy water and waste, and space.

Open Data Innovators and Inventors can apply forf £1.1m of vouchers over the next two years. They will be allocated every three months, with 25 available each quarter and they could be awarded to: