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ODI Leeds Themes - Why we do what we do

If you've come across our dashboard you will know about our themes. They are fundamental to our business and the pillars of all of our work at ODI Leeds. When we first started our open data mission our theme was simply to be #RadicallyOpen but over the years the guiding principles of our business have expanded to include #OpenDataSavesLives, #DiversityData, #PlanetData, #OpenGovTech, #OpenTransport, and most recently #OpenEnergy.

Our themes cover environmental, community, infrastructure, and healthcare missions which are important to ODI Leeds' sponsors, clients, and friends. And that's why they are important to us! Our community inspires everything we do and our themes are an expression of that.

#RadicallyOpen

First and foremost we're #RadicallyOpen! This means that everything we do and create is out in the open. Nothing is siloed or hidden away so loads of smart people from all around the web can get involved and we can solve problems together (and a lot faster). Everything we do is rooted in this theme.


#OpenDataSavesLives

Another core pillar of our work is#OpenDataSavesLives. We are creating, for the first time, a network of collaborators and resources that people from all areas of health can access to improve wellbeing and #savelives. Our work is delivered through collaboration and innovation. We bring people together to share and learn via our events, and we help organisations innovate and scale by developing tools that help them share and use data in the open, fast.

#DiversityData

Recently we have spent a lot of time on our #DiversityData work since we believe that fostering inclusion and representation is fundamental and can be enabled through responsible data standards and smart analysis. As a result, what started out as a few events and innovation projects has now become a full-blown theme.


#PlanetData

Part of ODI Leeds' mission, right from its inception, has been to focus upon the massive challenges that face us all. Climate emergency is one of those challenges and something that we are passionate about. We want to bring people together to solve the climate crisis through our #PlanetData work.

    #OpenGovTech

    ODI Leeds is not just about sharing open data but also about sharing tools and processes that are useful across organisations. This is why we developed #OpenGovTech, which is designed to give local organisations and councils a platform to share their own tools and clever ways of working. We're hoping to focus a lot more on this theme in the near future, especially in the context of 'recovery' after the pandemic.

    #OpenTransport

    One of our most popular themes is #OpenTransport, which started out through our sponsor relationship with Transport for the North. It is all about using open data to improve transport systems across the North of England and even has its own website. This year we're excited to pick up our #OpenTransport work again to reflect changes following the pandemic.

      #OpenEnergy

      Finally, our newest theme is #OpenEnergy. There is a lot of energy data out there and the industry is becoming more analytics-based and ready for the dive into open data. And since we've been floating in those waters for a while we're excited to get started on more energy focussed projects.


      Final Thoughts

      Of course, all of these themes are very ambitious - but that's the point. We strive to make open data count in all areas of life and there's a lot of work to be done so we might as well keep our eyes on the end goal and make every little bit count. Our themes guide us and help us grow and evolve our projects and events into more meaningful work.

      So of course there will be more projects in the future and maybe even new themes! A lot of it depends on our community: If you'd like us to work on a project related to our themes, reach out to us - we'd love to look into it. And if it doesn't quite fit into our themes... still reach out! We love finding new passion projects and maybe you'll inspire a new theme.