Winners announced of Land Registry Open Data Challenge
Land Registry today, 27 November 2013, announced the winners of its first open data challenge.
Using valuable information on the country’s housing market, the winners, Adzuna and Dan Hilton, demonstrated the economic potential of Land Registry’s data with applications that focus on helping jobseekers and online shoppers. The entries each win a £3000 prize.
Eddie Davies, Land Registry’s Director of Commercial & Customer Strategy said:
“The quality of the successful entries in our first commercial competition was remarkably high and proves that creativity can be harnessed into developing practical tools which can have a positive impact on the UK economy.
“As supporters of the government’s transparency and open data agendas, we’re pleased that the challenge has been successful in driving business innovation forward.”
Heather Savory, Chair of the Open Data User Group (ODUG) added:
“ODUG was delighted to be invited by Land Registry to judge the entries in their first open data competition. The standard of the winning entries was high producing two innovative concepts with real potential to create economic opportunity and benefit citizens. I hope the Land Registry open data challenge will become a regular fixture of the open data landscape.”
Adzuna, established 2 years ago and attracting 3 million users per month, is a search engine for classified ads making it easier to find the perfect job, home or car locally. Their entry will enable people to make better-informed choices about where to live and work.
Accepting the award, Jenna Brown, data analyst at Adzuna said:
“We are absolutely delighted to receive this award from Land Registry. Empowering citizens to maximise their salary versus living costs is key to improving lives and growing the UK economy. This comes at a perfect time as we have just opened up our own data to the world via an API, which we hope will inspire others to build more empowering tools.”
Dan Hilton is a software developer whose winning concept started with a snow shovel which never arrived. His entry would enable ecommerce providers to prompt their customers to amend an out of date delivery address, saving the retailer the cost of misdirected post and returns.
Receiving the cheque, Dan said;
“I’m thrilled that my concept has been recognised by Land Registry as an attractive proposition for the retail market. The award means that I can take the next step and start on the first iteration of a web API.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Individuals, entrepreneurs and small businesses were offered the opportunity to compete for awards of £3,000 to fund innovative uses of Land Registry’s price paid data.
- Entrants had to be UK residents over the age of 18 or a UK-based micro or SME organisation. Submissions were judged by a panel of experts from ODUG, ODI and Land Registry for innovation, feasibility and their potential for a positive impact on the UK economy.
- Land Registry has been publishing free datasets since 2012 under the Open Government Licence (OGL). Its open data is available to download from the Land Registry website and Data.gov.uk. The next datasets will be released on Thursday 28 November 2013 #opendata
- As a government department established in 1862, executive agency and trading fund responsible to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Land Registry keeps and maintains the Land Register for England and Wales. The Land Register has been an open document since 1990.
- With the largest transactional database of its kind detailing over 23 million titles, Land Registry underpins the economy by safeguarding ownership of many billions of pounds worth of property.
- For further information about Land Registry, visit www.landregistry.gov.uk. Follow us on Twitter @LandRegGov. Find us on LinkedIn, Facebook and our blog.
Contact
Marion Shelley
- 0300 006 7543,
- 07790 690297 and by
- email marion.shelley@landregistry.gsi.gov.uk
