The National Data Library is,
- Focused not exhaustive. We are starting by making five high value public datasets
available as proposed in the
UK's AI Opportunities Action Plan. We are focused not exhaustive, more like the Leeds Library than the
British Library.
- Proudly technical. The largest group of people in our library are experts in
working with data. We aim to magnify their time, experience, and expertise — it is our most
important asset.
- Shaped by the work that gets done. We have a plan and some processes, but no more
than we need. We will adapt to support more of the great work that gets done much more strongly than
we will adapt to user needs identified by surveys and research.
- Enabling and well-resourced. We know that uncapped cost is a barrier to releasing
data, especially in
government. We will host up to ten terrabyes of data, with unlimited bandwidth, for
free, if it's released under an open licence.
- Eager to collaborate. We have space, time, and money for people to join us from
business, government, academia, and elsewhere. We think people learn best by working on real
problems together, not through formal training. We think that getting out of siloes is a good thing,
but it is best done by people with a track record of doing great work within siloes.
- Biased towards open but comfortable with being closed. Some of the most valuable
datasets cannot be open, but the stories of how they're being made valuable almost always can be. We
exist so these stories get told even if the data cannot be made open.
- Respectfully opinionated and radically open. Britain has more than enough national
institutions with
opinions agreed and moderated in private and delivered meekly in public. We will not be another one.
We will be radically open in sharing our opinions and our work, before, during, and after it is
done.
- Real people, in one place. To succeed we will need to be more innovative than our
competitors, both within Britain and around the world. While remote work can be better for
well-defined tasks, we believe that working together in person discovers the tasks
that add most value more quickly. We will have one office, in the middle of our country.
- Positive about British growth. British people's data should serve the British
people's interests and the most important way it can do that is by creating well-paying jobs for
British workers and entrepreneurs, working mostly for British companies. Other goals matter too, but
few more than growth.
The National Data Library is a work in progress. We have received positive responses from the private and
public sectors and we are turning that positivity into
commitments and money.
We have questions we want to ask those of you who have reached the bottom of this page. We're
particularly interested in which datasets you'd like to be the five we start working on making
available, but we haven't finished the form yet. Check back soon.