I refer you to Louise Kidneys blog post “15 minutes of brain” wherein she explains the usage of some open data hosted at data.gov.uk.
15 minutes and I know Devon and Cornwall have a disproportionately high drug offence rate considering their population, in comparison to their surrounding neighbours of Dorset and Avon & Somerset (yes I know Avon doesn’t exist as a county any more, they’re slow to catch up down there).
This is just one example of the trending data which comes into view when open data is presented. This sort of analysis can be inspirational to individuals with an interest in the results – either for personal, profit or passion reasons.
Data.gov.uk’s Nigel Shadbolt on the latent power of government data and the drive to open it up.