The Crime and Justice Open Data Challenge was a part of The Open Data Challenge Prize Series, which was a series of seven challenge prizes to generate innovative and sustainable open data solutions to social challenges. It was funded by the Technology Strategy Board,(now known as Innovate UK) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, now known as the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The Crime and Justice Open Data Challenge called for products and services using open data which would:
Open data has the potential to power tools that provide solutions to real problems. Although the UK is the world leader in releasing open data, its use in informing real world solutions has been limited and fragmented, with innovative start-ups lacking support and data expertise to scale to a sustainable business level.
This series of challenges aimed to galvanise a new community to use open data as the key ingredient in helping solve social problems. The challenges helped SMEs and start-ups to work with data providers, industry experts and business leaders to develop new ways to reuse available data, creating sustainable business opportunities.
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Check That Bike! allows people wanting to buy a second-hand bike to check whether it has been previously stolen. By cross-checking unique frame numbers against Check That Bike!, cyclists can make better decisions about buying second-hand bikes at the time they’re actually buying them. The service will also help police forces tackle bicycle theft by disrupting the market for stolen bikes.
John’s idea shows how organisations can support their public aims by publishing open data. Check That Bike! is not only providing a service to cyclists but, by changing their behaviour, also has an impact on the way in which the police approach this category of crime.
Total Car Check is a service to help customers check vehicle history and purchase second-hand cars safely, powered by open data.
Help 999, a smartphone app that enables deaf people (and anyone who can’t use a phone) to directly contact 999 emergency services using open geolocation data and touch-screen options.
As well as helping to reduce crime, and the number of victims of crime, the service will hopefully tackle one of the main reasons that people don’t take up cycling – the fear of getting their bike stolen – potentially leading to more people taking up cycling and experiencing its health benefits.
John is developing the service alongside a range of other tools aimed at combating bike theft. Together, their websites attracts over 100k visits a month and generate enough revenue to sustain themselves. John is also exploring opportunities for an eCommerce site, selling high-quality cycle security products.
The service is live and John says it identified about 2,257 stolen bikes in 2014 with a total value of about £760,609. John hopes more police forces will release open data on stolen bikes for him to incorporate into the service. In August 2014 John was a BikeBitz Cycling Advocacy Achievement finalist for his work combating bike theft. He’s now looking to expand the service for mobile phones.
