Atkins has worked with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and its partners to launch a service that provides near real-time planning data which is accessible for the 35 planning authorities in Greater London.
Known as London Planning Datahub, the service went live on Monday 16 November.
Using the Datahub, the GLA can speed up the supply of housing and reduce the cost of providing monitoring information. Atkins has worked with the GLA for the last 18 months to help shape the project, build the technology and understand stakeholder requirements.
The Datahub is built on open-source technology in accordance with Government Digital Service principles, using a low/no-code approach to create a single source of truth for development data in the city.
It provides easy access to all of London’s planning data, including historic data from the London Development Database.
The quality of the data is essential and will be closely monitored, with built in technical checks to avoid poor quality data wherever possible.
As it develops, the Datahub will collect a wider range of information from development applications, including environmental information, floor area, infrastructure requirements and ownership information. This will help the GLA understand how the city is changing, as well as the wider environmental impact, and help the city plan for future needs more effectively and reduce disruption caused by development.
Will Squires, Atkins project lead, said: “The Datahub represents the first steps in delivering foundational data infrastructure for the built environment. Built on scalable, open source technology, we see the Datahub as a critical first step in driving new technology into the planning sector and helping to underpin the drive for a National Digital Twin.”
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