Detail Data

I’ve spent a lot of time over last couple of weeks talking and thinking about Data. Not being what you would call a details person, the prospect of this could’ve easily filled me with dread if it wasn’t for the fact I was doing it with the team over at NICVA and their ODI (Open Data Institute) Belfast and Detail Data projects.

These two projects are trying to lead the Northern Ireland Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector on bringing the benefits of open data to Northern Ireland.

I have written about the Detail Data project before, and am on record as saying I think it is one of the most interesting and potentially vital projects in the NI VCSE, so I’ll use this blog to talk a little bit about the ODI Belfast project, its potential impact and how I see it overlapping with the Trust’s work.

The ODI Belfast project is an offshoot of the Open Data Institutes work in the rest of the UK and is setting out an ambitious programme of work around data and how it can be used here in NI.

In terms of how this applies to the NI VCSE, one of the key areas of data they’re looking at it grant data and this is what a group of funders from the sector, as well as representatives from the Department for Social Development (DSD), met at NICVA to discuss.

As well as grant data, they’re also interested in organisational data, evaluation & research, outcomes & impacts and data around programme development and service delivery, but going into the detail around those particular areas is for a different day.

A key question was how we could get all this data into a useable format for funders to be able to design impactful grants and programmes around.

The answer seems to be in standardisation – a sector-wide agreed format by which we all report and publish into a central database.

Whilst this is all very exciting, alarm bells were going off in the room as regards data protection, resourcing issues and the age-old worry about this giving those who subscribe to ‘us and them’ politics in NI another stick to beat each other with.

These are all very valid concerns and there certainly is a sizable piece of work to do around convincing the funders and grantees of the mutual benefits of this kind of approach to data and data lead design.

It can definitely be seen as an investment in the sector, with resources going into data, time and energy can be saved elsewhere. Without having to do so much back office, we can spend more time with grantees – who are making a real difference on the ground.

A great idea that was mentioned was DSD’s Grant Passport – a collection of all the paperwork every group has to submit as part of their application (constitution, memorandum of understanding, list of committee etc).

Would it not be great if the NI VCSE could implement such a system which would save grantees and funders endless hours of paperwork, leaving us all with more time to do what we are here to do – serve communities.

In terms of how it fits in with the Trust’s work, I was really encouraged to hear so many of our themes come up time and time again.

Essentially, harnessing the power of open data is about impact. In a sector where budgets are tight and we’re all trying to do more with less, we need to make sure every grant is doing the best it can for the people it has been designed to help.

This kind of sector-wide initiative can only happen with collaboration – funders at the very top level working together.

As well as this, we need to see this as a social innovation, and as such we need to see buy in across sectors. Could the public sector share the data it holds with us? Can we learn from and harness the expertise within the private sector to develop user friendly applications for this data?

The NI VCSE is only just starting to get to grips with Open Data and its implications for all we do. It’s an exciting time and I think we at the Trust can help the sector embrace it.

Robbie Best is Communications Officer with the Building Change Trust. You can follow them on Twitter at @Robbie_BCT and @ChangeTrust. For more information on the Trust please visit – buildingchangetrust.org

This comes as our research into the protection of important sites also revealed that the Department of Environment’s (DoE) funding for restoration projects has fallen from over £4.4million in 2014/15 to zero for the current financial year – although £500,000 was made available through the government’s plastic bag levy fund.

Also, more than 650 buildings that were previously listed have lost their protected status, while it has emerged that the government’s rolling survey of historic buildings has been radically scaled back as a result of cuts. The Department’s role in enforcement also comes under scrutiny today, with just 60 Urgent Works Letters issued in respect of buildings that have fallen into a state of disrepair in the past five years.

Conservation groups, responding to the findings, criticised the government’s performance and argued that for every pound invested in historic buildings, a return of nearly £8 can be identified. They have called on voluntary and community groups such as buildings preservations trusts to challenge government and their local councils to prioritise investment in suitable restoration schemes.

The DoE cited the impact of cuts and the loss of staff through the civil service voluntary exit scheme, but it defended its efforts to make funding available: “Given the very significant cuts made to the Department’s budget for 2015/16, we have not been able to allocate budget to the listed building grant scheme in the current financial year. The Minister has however allocated £500,000 of carrier bag levy funding to six community led conservation projects.”

Detail Data also revealed that the Built Heritage at Risk Register, which contains details of 496 vulnerable structures, has been unavailable to view on the DoE website for nearly a year.

Three voluntary and community organisations contributed to this story. The Chief Executive of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society (UAHS), Nikki McVeigh states that the register plays a crucial role in finding a new future for at risk buildings.
“It is incredibly important as these are the most vulnerable buildings that we have on the listed buildings database.”

Hearth Housing also contributed to the story. This housing association prioritises the reuse of historic buildings. It played a key role in the restoration of 19th century terraces at McMaster Street in east Belfast, as well as in dozens of other projects.

Director Marcus Patton said the perception that historic buildings are the preserve of the wealthy is misplaced “Social housing is for whoever is on the housing list. So our 100 houses in the housing association, they are social housing. We aren’t building houses for rich people and the housing association has been a mechanism which has allowed us to provide historic buildings as social housing.”

Impact

As reported the Built Heritage at Risk register, which contains details of 496 vulnerable structures, has been unavailable to view on the DoE website for nearly a year. In the process of this story the Department confirmed it will be updated and published online within a month. (Update: the register is now available online at http://appsc.doeni.gov.uk/barni/)

Data

Figures were provided by the DoE following a Freedom of Information request, showed that its Listed Buildings Grants have directed £33,115,448 towards 1,245 projects since 2005. This data also revealed that delisting has occurred in all 11 of the new council districts. The remainder (27) were contained in DoE media releases which were published after the release of the FOI data.

To read the full article by the Detail's Cormac Campbell, click here.

To view the data on the Detail Data Portal, click here.

Today sees the launch of Detail Data’s fourth data story New figures reveal 500 people seeking asylum in Northern Ireland which examines the refugee and asylum seekers situation. This number is expected to rise as Stormont politicians have responded to the international crisis sparked by hundreds of thousands of refugees seeking new lives.

Campaigners have highlighted Stormont’s failure to introduce relevant legislation, including the long-awaited Racial Equality Strategy and a refugee integration strategy, while asylum seekers already based in Belfast have raised concerns over the handling of their cases.

Key findings

• 212 people were detained at Larne House, Northern Ireland’s only holding centre for immigrants (including asylum seekers), between April and June 2015.
• 25 children who arrived into Northern Ireland unaccompanied between 2011 and August 2015 have been taken into care. The youngest was 12 years old. Five children were taken into care in the first eight months of this year alone.
• 137 children of asylum seekers were educated in Northern Ireland schools in 2014/15. All were based in Belfast. That figure is up from 72 in 2012/13.
• 1,333 people registered with a GP practice here between January 2010 and June 2015 as asylum seekers,147 of them in the first six months of 2015.

Insight from Northern Ireland Community of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (NICRAS) is included in this story. Justin Kouame, NICRAS Chairperson, stated that Northern Ireland is not adequately equipped to deal with asylum seekers who have fled their counties because of conflict, war, sexual abuse, political beliefs, persecution and female genital mutilation. Personal stories were also gathered directly from three of NICRAS service users. To read their stories click here.

The Data

Detail Data has extracted the Northern Ireland figures from Home Office immigration statistics which include quarterly figures on asylum, detention and removals. The statistics made available to Detail Data cover only those asylum seekers who are judged to be ‘destitute’ (they do not have adequate accommodation or money to cover living expenses for their families for 14 days) and whose applications have not been finalised. Detail Data also requested information from the Department of Education, Health and Social Care Business Services Organisation.

Gaps in the Data

It is not possible to calculate the total number of asylum seekers for the year as applications report in each quarter can carry into subsequent quarters and even subsequent years.

To read the full article by the Detail's Lindsay Fergus, click here.

To find the data on the Detail Data Portal, click here.

We've written a feature about how the public views charities, combining two datasets to create a 'mega survey'. Click here to read it on the Detail Data Portal.

On Monday night, in my role as a member of the Open Government steering committee, I attended the launch of the first Environment week. It was held in the Long Hall at Stormont. Launched by Anna Lo MLA MBE, the main aim of Environment Week is to raise awareness  of environmental issues primarily among our public representatives, and provide opportunities for the environmental NGO (Non- Governmental Organisation) sector to engage with MLAs.

Arriving at Stormont there was a notable presence of outside broadcast vans. Wonder was there anything important happening? The long hall was full and I recognised a few faces; Chris Lyttle, Jim Wells, and the two Durkans, Mark and Mark H.  Anna Lo, who is Chairperson of  the Environment Committee, came over and introduced herself.  We had a chat and she expressed her interest in the concept of Open Government.  In keeping with environmental week there were plates of vegetarian sandwiches and lots of smelly cheeses.

Anna started by saying that "In today’s busy world, events like this provide us all with an opportunity to appreciate what our local environment has to offer. It is vital for our health and well–being. We depend on it for food, energy, raw materials and water. We have a wealth of built heritage, habitats and wildlife which we need to look after. As Chair of the Environment Committee, I am delighted to launch the first Environment Week for Northern Ireland and look forward to seeing this event prosper in the years to come.”

She then told us about her own personal project to project the swift. Swifts are coming under threat due to the recent trend in renovating our homes. Blocking up eaves and repairing holes and cracks means there are fewer nesting places. Food for thought.image

Minister Mark H Durkan congratulated NIEL and the Environment Committee for organising the week. He said “This is a good example of how our eNGO sector can help us to deliver environmental outcomes. As budgets come under increasing pressure, their expertise and enthusiasm in securing match funding and harnessing volunteers will become ever more important.”

He also explained that he had teamed up with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful to back the Eco-schools hedgehog campaign and his hopes to protect the hedgehog. Apparently hedgehog houses are the way to go about it. He mentioned Ballycraigy Primary in Antrim and Elmgrove Primary in East Belfast for their excellent work in helping to save the hedgehog. Mark H also confirmed that he has banned the growth of all GM crops in Northern Ireland.

Patrick Casement, Chairperson of Northern Ireland Environment Link concluded by commenting that "Environment week is a celebration of Northern Ireland’s environment and an opportunity to raise awareness of environmental issues primarily among our public representatives."

Belonging to an organisation like Open Government has opened up a new world for me. I feel as if I’m more in touch with what is going in NI and I’m much more involved. I was unaware of the plight of the swift and the hedgehog and would probably still be would had I not attended tonight’s launch.  It certainly makes a change from listening to bickering politicians. I have also to confess that some of what goes on is way above my head, especially when the buzz words and the civil service jargon are being bandied about.  I’m trying to get my fellow committee members to see that everyone needs to know our aims and aspirations and that will be a lot easier if it is written in language that everyone can understand, especially old dears like me.

Tuesday lunchtime and the second day of Environment week. Time for Open Government to explain how it can assist in protecting the environment. This will be a learning curve for me as it is not something I have thought about.

Open Gov NI had been invited to host a lunch time seminar. After a nice lunch (I opted for the scampi and chips) Jonathan Bell our Project Coordinator welcomed everyone and explained what OGN was all about. What is open government you may ask? Simply it’s asking that governments make themselves more open and accountable to the citizens who elect them. Compared to England, and to a lesser extent Wales and Scotland,  the Open Government Partnership has had little impact for us in Northern Ireland. Our NI steering group is forging ahead with the process for developing the NI specific commitments for the UK action plan. Jonny encouraged those attending to join our network and support the campaign.

A draft set of commitments is currently open for comment on the OGN Forum (http://forum.opengovernment.org.uk/groups/opengovni#landing-tab). The draft ideas will be shared with DFP and a set of Joint OGN-DFP commitments will be produced. The commitments will be further refined and revised at a joint OGN-DFP workshop towards the end of October, which will inform the development of a final set of draft commitments. Subject to Ministerial approval the commitments will be forwarded to the Cabinet Office for inclusion in the Draft UK Open Government Action Plan.

I had a go at Periscoping the event (relax Basil) and at this stage had 180 plus viewers some of whom stayed for the entire event. Sore arms afterwards but worth it.IMG_0276

Dr. Peter Doran QUB/Carnegie Trust was next.  To give you a flavour of what he said I’ve quoted a piece from his talk :“Nobody gets up in the morning and says to him/ herself: ‘That’s a fine day to accelerate climate change and put the world on course for concentrations that are unprecedented in human history. Nobody – at least I hope – gets up in the morning and celebrates the fact that we are living through the sixth great mass extinction of species and plant life on earth. Indeed, just last week the WWF reported that due to pollution, industrial fishing and climate change, we have killed off half of all marine life in the past four decades. Welcome to the age of the ‘Anthropocene’. We humans – you and I – are now the decisive agents of change in the Earth’s planetary and atmospheric systems.”

Andrea Thornbury the Project Coordinator of the Detail Data Project gave a presentation in which she explained that there are seven types of data, two of which refer specifically to the environment. They are:

Weather : The many types of information used to understand and predict the weather and climate and

Environment : Information related to the natural environment such as,  presence and level of pollutants, the quality of rivers and the seas.

Through research the Northern Ireland Open Government Network identified Open Data as one of their key areas of focus for the next 18 months and the network has linked in with the Detail Data Project in the pursuit of this. While the UK leads on the open data barometer Northern Ireland is lagging behind. However an Open Data ecosystem is starting to develop on the Assembly Management System. http://www.aims.niassembly.gov.uk

All in all an interesting session. I would however suggest that the talks could be shorter and give fewer statistics and details. In my opinion, and talking to others in the hall, I got the impression that very few grasp all the information at the time but they do grasp short punchy points. Perhaps handouts of the more detailed information would be helpful.

There were many questions after the session which is always a good sign. Anyway, time to go home and try writing it all up in a blog. The challenge in writing a blog is that most people only read the first few paragraphs, and very few stay to the end. So if you are still with me,  please click on the links below for more information. Thank you.

http://youtu.be/eDCKGqA3eq0

http://www.nicva.org/article/new-open-data-culture-northern-ireland

Paul Braithwaite @Paul_BCT Sep 22

Shocking fact: Belfast-L’derry train takes 20mins longer now than in 1948! @DetailData story

Follow on Twitter @OpenGovNI

The article ‘Home is where the hurt is’ reports on the 67 people across Northern Ireland that were killed by their partner, ex-partner or a family member, according to police records covering the last 10 years. 

This story highlights the serious issue of domestic violence in Northern Ireland while the Northern Ireland Executive continues to stall on publication of the long-awaited new Domestic and Sexual Abuse strategy.  

Along with the homicides, 28,287 incidents of domestic abuse were reported to the police during the 2014/15 financial year. This equates to 77 incidents reported every day, or three every hour.

Key findings:

• The victims of the domestic abuse crimes committed over 12 months were women, men and young children and the crimes include murder, rape, sexual assault, child abduction, kidnapping, physical assaults and criminal damage.
• Sixty-seven domestic homicides were recorded by the PSNI between 2005/06 and 2014/15. Thirty-six females and 31 males lost their lives to current or former partners or family members.
• Domestic abuse continues to take place on a daily basis with a total of 28,287 incidents reported to the police in Northern Ireland during the latest 2014/15 financial year.
• Over a quarter (28%) of the victims of domestic abuse crimes were male.

Insight from one Women’s Aid refuge was gathered as part of this story. The organisation granted access to a women’s refugee and some of the service users told of their personal experience of domestic violence. Jane, not her real name, agreed to tell her story to Detail Data using photography. The featured objects all come from her home and represent her journey from victim to survivor of abuse. To view the full article and video click here. The name and location of the women’s refugee has not been disclosed to protect the families living there.

The data for this story was sourced from the PSNI using Freedom of Information legislation. The data details the breakdown of domestic homicides in the decade between 2005/06 and 2014/15 (link) and domestic abuse incidents and crimes in 2014/15 (link).

 

The training is an interactive one-day course designed to give participants (no previous data experience required) an introduction to the concept and usage of open data: data that anyone can access, use and share.

The Open Data Institute, a world-leading centre of learning, network and innovation around open data, delivered the course. David Tarrant, from the ODI's Learning Team, was our facilitator. Dave is very knowledgeable and experienced in both the practice of open data and in developing and running training courses, having created the first undergraduate course focusing on open data at the University of Southampton. 

By the end of the day we had covered:

What open data is, its benefits and opportunities

Case studies of successful open data projects

How to minimize risks by understanding licensing and certificates

How to discover and use open data

The course is designed for people interested in using and benefiting from open data. By covering issues around licensing and making open data usable, it is also helpful for organisations who want to publish their own data and make it open.

The first part of the day focused on the concept of 'openness': encouraging participants to think critically about what open really means, and why data should be open, as well as some important legal concepts.

As well as understanding the definition of open, the practical application of open data in real-world case studies was explored, including a brief history of the open movement to the current day. We also covered some of the key skills and processes required in working with open data.

Having brought their own laptops along, the participants were also guided through some practical exercises in exploring open data and understanding how to overcome some of the difficulties and obstacles in skillfully using data. Dave was always on hand to help out when the tasks got a bit tricky.

The course is proving very popular. The next 'Open Data in a Day' is scheduled for February 2016, but is already booked out. A few places remain for 6 September 2016, but even though that's a year away you'll have to be fast! Follow this link to book your free place.

The article examines PSNI statistics relating to 1,321 collisions in 2013 and 2014 which led to the death or serious injury of drivers, passengers, cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians on public roads. In total 136 people were killed across Northern Ireland and 1,430 were seriously injured.

Key findings:

• Almost a quarter of the people killed on the roads in the last two years were young men aged between 17 and 24. Of all deaths, almost 80% were male.
• The death toll includes 54 drivers, 25 pedestrians, 23 motorcyclists, 16 front seat passengers, 10 rear seat passengers, 7 cyclists and 1 pillion passenger.
• Lisburn PSNI area had the highest number of crashes in total – 100. The lowest number was in Cookstown in Co Tyrone – 20.
• There is a strong gender imbalance. 106 males were killed and 938 seriously injured during 2013 and 2014 – compared to 30 females killed and 492 seriously injured.
• 637 incidents were single vehicle collisions, 587 involved two vehicles and 80 three vehicles. One incident – a serious collision in west Belfast in September 2013 – involved nine vehicles. One person was seriously injured and 14 were slightly injured.
• More than a quarter (27%) of people killed were aged 65 or over.
• Of the 298 people killed over a five year period (2010-14), 37 were not wearing a seatbelt
• Despite the common perception that drivers are now well aware of the dangers of drink driving, it remains a serious issue. The top three principal causes of fatal collisions over the last five years in Northern Ireland were drink driving, followed by excessive speed and then inattention/attention diverted.
   

Insight from four voluntary and community organisations highlights the impact of road deaths and serious injuries on the individuals, families and the communities in which they live. The Road Safety Council of Northern Ireland, a voluntary organisation that aims to reduce death and serious injuries through its network of local road safety committees, is campaigning for changes. Sam Knox, Director, states that “The Road Safety Council is firmly committed to lobby to try and get change made to the law in terms of being caught as a driver using your mobile phone. We believe that, as is the case in England where they are looking at this in terms of new legislation, two strikes and a driver should actually lose their licence.”

Rural roads are of particular concern with 74% of the 129 fatal collisions having occurred on rural roads. The police area with the highest crash death toll in 2013-14 was County Fermanagh with 16 people were killed on Fermanagh's roads over the last two years. Aidan Campbell, Policy and Public Affairs Officer from the Rural Community Network expressed concern about the road death figures for rural roads. “Every road death is a tragedy and in one way it’s no surprise that the majority of fatal collisions are happening on rural roads but I didn’t realise the proportion of road deaths was so high on rural roads. For people living in rural areas access to a car is essential to access employment, education and services. On smaller roads, that are less well lit and have hazards, the margin for error is much smaller than in urban areas.”

A Department for Environment spokeswoman said: “The Department is taking a range of actions to continue to push down deaths and serious injuries on our roads. We continue to focus on problem areas, such as drink driving, speeding, carelessness and inattention; and on groups which are over-represented in the casualty figures.”

The data for this project was sourced from the PSNI using Freedom of Information legislation. The data details the breakdown of all fatal and serious road collisions which took place during 2013 and 2014 including the date, time and location for each incident, road type, speed limit on the road and light, weather and road conditions. Gender and age data of all of the casualties involved in fatal and serious collisions over the two year period was also examined. To view this data click here.

To read the full story by the Detail's Kathryn Torney, click here.

To find this data on the Detail Data Portal, click here.

There was huge interest in the programme launch with over 70 people from the voluntary and community sector, media, public and tech sectors in attendance.

The Detail Data programme will engage with organisations to build their capacity to access and apply data to their work in order to stimulate innovation, engage public participation, increase transparency and inform decision-making. A training calendar has been developed and includes formal training in open data from the Open Data Institute. Ten masterclasses and 15 lunchtime seminars will be delivered by the Detail Data team, the Information Commissioners Office and NISRA.

Thirty high-impact data stories on key issues relevant to the sector will be produced. The first story, Places Apart: Exposing huge disparities in Northern Ireland’s 11 new councils, launched earlier this month, compares educational achievement, claimant counts, life expectancy, housing stress and estimated debt per capital in the new council areas. The second story is due to be launched later this week.

A core element of this programme is the development of an open data portal, also launched yesterday. This central resource will hold public, private and voluntary and community sector data relevant to the sector. This data will help organisations to tailor services, strengthen their advocacy role, challenge government on gaps in provision and performance, and develop stronger and more robust funding applications.

Lisa McElherron, Head of Public Affairs at NICVA, said:

‘Open data is a global movement and we in NICVA are looking at how we can harness open data and use it for public good. Open data will make our sector do what they do better and deliver more for those they represent. This project will build the capacity of organisations to use data and will publish high-impact data stories relevant to the sector.’

Joanne McDowell, Director of Big Lottery NI, said:

‘As an organisation working in Northern Ireland and across the UK we hold a lot of information and we had started to think what open data could mean for the voluntary community sector and the opportunities it would bring. It is important for us to look at what the voluntary and community sector needs and this project is a great example of this.’

Detail Data Launch by Detail Data