National Data Library

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 always slightly less 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 terabytes of data per project, 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 that 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. Our data should serve our interests and the most important way it can do that is by creating well-paying jobs for British-based workers and entrepreneurs, working mostly for British-based companies. Other goals matter too but, after over two decades of economic stagnation, few matter 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 a question for those of you who have reached the bottom of this page.

Which one dataset are you most excited to work with,...

1. An archive of every bus journey in Britain.

The Bus Open Data Service (BODS) powers amazing services like Bustimes.org and great analysis like Real Journey Time. Currently every user of BODS, such as Leeds-based Tracsis, creates their own partial archive to analyse. A historical archive exists and the National Data Library will make this available to all under an open license.
2. Easier access to safely unified GP records.

Two Leeds companies, TPP and EMIS, hold almost all of Britain's GP Records data. They have won in a competitive marketplace and the market message from that victory should be respected. Their work with OpenSAFELY has been producing world-leading research outputs and better healthcare for years. The National Data Library will work with all three to make sure that more work can be done with these world-leading data assets and the processes for working with them safely.
3. An Open Address System

The UK government's decision to privatise the postcode address file alongside Royal Mail has left Britain without a properly open address system. This stifles innovation by increasing costs for small businesses, it reduces the quality of address-based services that we all receive, and it constrains local government digital innovation by limiting the pool of software providers they can procure from. The National Data Library will advocate incessantly for, and make it easier for government to say yes to, an open address system for Britain. We need something similar to France's excellent Base Adresse Nationale. If we are not making progress, we will work with Leeds City Council, the government in the UK that has made most progress taking back control of its address data, to build a competitor.
4. Better companies data

The UK has one of the most open companies registers in the world, but it provides less detail than many competitors. As national statistics and business surveys all around the world become less reliable due to the changing nature of the economy and reduced survey response rates, we are losing our understanding of the economy. The National Data Library will collect data on companies from multiple sources and advocate for the release of more data where needed. The Data City, based in Leeds, are already world-leading at this. Britain should know which companies do R&D, where those companies operate, and what they do at each site. France already does much of this.

National Data Library

Which one dataset are you most excited to work with,...

1. An archive of every bus journey in Britain.

2. Easier access to safely unified GP records.

3. An Open Address System

4. Better companies data