On 17th January, Norfolk County Council hosted a workshop with stakeholders from Local Environmental Records Centres (LERCs) to investigate the issue of Open Data with regards to ensuring sustainable access to biodiversity data.
At present, most biodiversity data used by decision makers at a local level is provided by LERCs, which charge for data provision services. Open Data is increasingly seen as a way of delivering data to decision makers but this could have potentially detrimental impacts on the sustainable funding of data collection.
The workshop, which was run by the Open Data Institute, examined Open Data with regards to biodiversity data providers and considered ways that it could be integrated into the work of LERCs. A report highlighting a series of proposals for action was produced; this will provide valuable information for the regional action plan, and is already influencing work at Norfolk County Council and in the UK LERC network.
