Leeds Data Mill expands into platform for the North

THE Leeds Data Mill is being expanded into a regional open data platform for the north of England with Bradford becoming first council to follow Leeds in using open data repository.

Called Data Mill North, the new platform is being positioned as part of the effort to develop a ‘Northern Powerhouse’, former Chancellor George Osborne’s vision for an economic ecosystem in the region and draw on data from local authorities beyond the Leeds base.

Stephen Blackburn, publisher of the new platform, says it should provide richer data for digital communities and has called on councils in the region to look at sharing data that could be reused for new services.

The Leeds Data Mill website has already been replaced by that of Data Mill North, and City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council has begun to use it as a repository for open data, reflecting its location within the same urban conurbation as the platform’s founder Leeds City Council.

The original platform was set up by Leeds in 2014, supported by £100,000 from the Cabinet Office, to bring together reusable public information from across the city.