Virgin Media and consumer watchdog ‘Which?’ have joined the Open Data Institute (ODI) today, making them the first “major†private sector firms to collaborate with the independent and non-profit organisation. The ODI launched in December 2012 to bring together world-class experts who can collaborate, incubate, nurture and mentor new ideas that will produce an “open data culture†with economic and social benefits for the UK. Virgin Media will be working with the ODI to help the non-profit build a better understanding of how society is changing due to the adoption of digital services. This includes exploring aggregated and anonymous usage patterns, as well as generating new ideas for new and creative products and services that leverage open data. Andrew Barron, Virgin Media’s COO said: “The ODI is an important partnership, maintaining our commitment to protecting our customers and their data, whilst helping to create a collaborative data culture designed to accelerate innovation and make good things happen.” ‘Which?’ has a different purpose for teaming up with the ODI though. The company will be developing information and comparison tools that will help public services to make their information more accessible for consumers. Part of this initiative could involve making it easier to view and compare Ofsted inspection reports, which would help both parents and students choose their next school or further education (FE) college. Likewise
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