1. A virtual environment for developers to build useful
applications based on local challenges
2. What’s the need?
• Involving people in
developing solutions
to community needs
• Growing the local
digital economy
• Adapting to new uses
of technology
3. Transparency Open Data Big Society
“Create a new ‘right to data’ so
that government-held datasets
can be requested and
used by the public
“Ensure all data published by
public bodies is published in
an open and standardised
format”
“Enable businesses & non-profit
organisations to build
innovative applications
and websites“
Salaries & expenses, spending & contracts/tenders over £500, meeting minutes, service & performance data
Building the Big Society
4. …by supporting the local digital economy
Open Kent
Open Access Open Data Open Innovation
Provide platform & training
toolkit for public & staff
to access, use and
visualise information
Publish public information in
an open & standardised format
Provide environment for
businesses & non-profits to
build innovative applications
and websites
5. …to help develop applications with
the local community Help
yourself
Do it
together
Fix my
neighbourhood
6. Building on our work…
With Pic & Mix/Open Kent, Total Place, Transformed by You
7. Get people together online to
submit challenges and develop
digital applications
+ =
8. Aims
Enable people to turn digitally-based
ideas into innovations
Using new tools to develop applications
in a cheap, quick & easy way
Make the best use of local talent to
develop digital solutions to your needs
9. Benefits
• Makes the best use of
cheap and accessible
infrastructure
• Reduces the costs of
developing & procuring
technology
10. Approach
• Engage local services to find out what
challenges you face that you want to
use and test digital solutions
• Engage local digital sector to find out
how we can involve them in developing
digital solutions to challenges you face
Editor's Notes
We submitted the concept to the LGC Innovate08 competition which would reward the most “creative solutions that harness technology to tackle social and economic problems”. We were selected to go forward to the finals and arranged for Microsoft to mentor the team on presenting for the “dragons den” style panel at the finals. After strong competition, we won the overall competition.
We developed Pic and Mix with IBM, a strong partner of KCC and leading pioneer of visualizing information which provides access to other free information products.
Enables Open Kent to be franchised to local councils needing to fulfil government requirement to open up their data
Imagine if your local council gave you the tools to work out how you could help yourself, fix the neighbourhood or even change your world?
Although Open Kent currently focuses on public information, it could technically be used, if so desired, to enable users to submit user generated data, such as when there is snow in their drive or reporting potholes.
Enables local developers to build online services so councils don’t have to
Open Kent makes it easier for people to pick a wide range of free and accessible content and tools and mix them together to visualise the information they need.
People can use web applications from Open Kent depending on what they need at any given time or place. Staff and citizens may only want to use an application someone else created earlier.
Encourage community engagement
Opens up ability for citizens to fact check rather than rely on media interpretation
Encourages greater confidence in public activity
Helps citizens better understand and scrutinize public services
Enables communities to use it to help councils solve local problems or solve them themselves
Shows what people can do for themselves and each other
Community groups, small businesses and other public sector agencies may want to create their own applications. What they create can benefit others, whether it’s to see how councils spend their money, find local schools or report potholes.
