Birmingham City Observatory Data Charter ‘hack day’
The Birmingham City Observatory was launched in November 2022 as a platform for sharing data and insight, and to enable greater collaboration and innovation. The Observatory is a key resource for the Digital City, providing public access to a ‘single source of the truth’ about Birmingham. This information is now driving decision making within the council and partner agencies, and it is equally and simultaneously accessible to the private sector, voluntary & community sector and members of the public.
Since November the Observatory’s publications include:
- City Indicators highlighting our overall city performance across many key domains
- Detailed maps and information from Census 2021 providing a wide range of insight to our diverse communities
- A Cost of Living tool that shows where our residents are most financially exposed to current pressures
- Ward Profiles that support local democracy and public understanding of the city at micro-local level
- A Housing Briefing Book to illuminate housing issues across the city
- Most recently, a Pakistani Community Profile providing unprecedented detail on this key community of 195,000 people in Birmingham
Our ambition is for more and more collaboration and sharing of data through the Observatory. For example, in the near future we will be publishing dashboards blending Police and City Council data on community safety, and an online health strategic needs assessment. The Observatory will be supported by the Data Charter, and on Thursday 29th June a ‘hack day’ will identify new priorities that we will build to support Cost of Living work across the city.
The Observatory is work in progress: we want to support more collaboration and more sharing of data that is valuable to the partnership. Please get in touch with the City Observatory Team if you want to be more closely involved in this initiative, want to give us feedback or best of all want to collaborate on a product for the Observatory.
Written by Richard Brookes