It’s been nearly a year since Dave Harte last gave an update on our Birmingham Open City project, and the officially supported part of the project is now over. The Department for Communities and Local Government are currently evaluating the success of the Timely Information for Citizens project, which is where the money came from. And, we also have a new government who are pushing hard on the open data agenda. All of these reasons make now seem like a good time to reflect on what we think we achieved with the work we did.
A sizeable chunk of the funding went towards IT equipment. So, we bought laptops, some Flip cameras, some microphones, a couple of digital cameras and a GPS device. These were intended to provide the capability for local voluntary and community groups to use for mobile reporting and to capture feedback from consultations. Most of this equipment is loaned to Moseley Exchange and has been used by a variety of groups, such as Save Moseley Road Baths, Resident University and the Friends of Highbury Park.
