London launches next-gen city data platform

Over its 15-year history, the previous London Datastore pioneered new ways of making public data accessible and useful to communities, policymakers and innovators. The Data for London Library builds on that legacy, offering more than 5,100 datasets, faster search tools, and improved discoverability to make it easier for everyone – from citizens to researchers to startups – to find and use trusted data that benefits Londoners.

Data from the London Datastore has been used to: 

• Improve air quality by collating data from air quality sensors across London to help map and predict air pollution episodes. This enables the city to issue pollution alerts for Londoners, helping people with health conditions sensitive to pollution live healthier lives as part of the Breathe London project
• Support net-zero by providing energy efficiency data for all London homes in a transparent, shareable way through the London Building Stock Model. This helps councils to identify and prioritise homes that need retrofitting and is a key tool to support the delivery of the Mayor’s Warmer Homes London programme with London Councils
• Tackle rough sleeping by publishing quarterly and annual Chain reports based on data collected by outreach teams and services across London. These reports provide strategic insights into rough sleeping trends, supporting public understanding and helping the mayor, councils, and charities work toward the goal of ending rough sleeping in London by 2030.

The recently published London Growth Plan identifies huge opportunities to turbocharge the capital’s economy by harnessing the potential of rapidly growing tech sectors such as AI. The Data for London programme will help to support this by improving city data sharing, increasing collaboration, developing public trust, boosting Londoners’ digital skills and leading modern connectivity.

“London is great at collaboration and the new Data for London Library is rooted in partnership,” said Theo Blackwell, chief digital officer for London. “We’ve been working closely with the data community, the London Office of Technology and Innovation, local authorities in London and other data providers in the city to prioritise the features and improve the user experience.”

“The Data for London Library and platform will provide a huge boost for our ability to join up, analyse and act upon data at a truly London scale to benefit Londoners”

“This is just the beginning, we are only going one way – there is no global trend towards less data. AI systems of the future are heavily dependent on the quality and quantity of the data they are trained on, so our focus now is to build more data sources into the Data for London Library and to make it easier to navigate complex data sharing agreements to benefit the city’s strategic position as the vanguard of the data and AI revolution. This is how we can build a better, fairer, more prosperous London for everyone.”

Eddie Copeland, director at the London Office of Technology & Innovation, added: “Successfully tackling many of the biggest issues we face in the capital, from climate change to tackling homelessness, depends on bringing together data from many different sources. The Data for London Library and platform will provide a huge boost for our ability to join up, analyse and act upon data at a truly London scale to benefit Londoners.”