By Dr Catherine Mulligan

Call for Contributions – help us deliver London’s City Data Ecosystem!

Future Cities Catapult, Imperial College and the GLA Datastore have teamed up to further develop London’s city data ecosystem.

It is no news that the GLA datastore provides some of the most comprehensive city data sets to London’s citizens and developer communities. Creating a sustainable and flourishing ecosystem around this initiative requires more than just great data, however – it requires actively understanding the capabilities needed for individuals, entrepreneurs and businesses to come together to develop new innovative solutions that create value for citizens and the city.

By combining the world-leading research skills of Imperial College together with the business catalyst team at the Future Cities Catapult and the in-depth understanding of data and London of the GLA, this collaboration aims to bring serious intent and a structured approach to the ecosystem development around open data.

We aim to deliver a comprehensive approach for London to understand the correct policy levers that need to be applied to deliver this ecosystem effectively for the benefit of all actors involved in this process. Some key questions we aim to answer are:

• How do we place London’s citizens at the core of the ecosystem?
• How do we leverage the global ecosystem of city data initiatives to London’s advantage?
• How have companies worked to create value together through GLA city data? What else – for example incentives and standards – can be put in place to secure the continued delivery of value creation and the strengthening of the city data market?
• How do we demonstrate the value of city data and grow UK capability?

In order to do this, we need to reach out across London to actively engage with and capture the insights from the ecosystem itself – so we are hoping to hear from you and people like you.

If you have a great example of using open data to build a company or have a great idea how to further develop London’s city data ecosystem – let us know.

For more details, please contact us at: cmulligan@futurecities.catapult.org.uk

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Dr Catherine Mulligan is a Research Fellow in Imperial College’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship group and Head of Digital Strategy and Economics at Future Cities Catapult