Digital Catapult and AMEE are developing a new online platform to open up environmental data, which will make information more accessible and discoverable to all.
The Environmental Data Exchange which is set to launch in March, will act as a portal for businesses, researchers, citizens and other interested parties to be able to pull data on topics such as, flood risk information, climate models and air quality. The sources of this information include the World Bank, DEFRA and DECC.
Neil Crockett, CEO, Digital Catapult, said: "This platform will enable users to easily access, assess and utilise environmental data while collaborating with others. This could be an absolutely pivotal moment in the UK’s drive to reduce its environmental impact."
"When we formed the Digital Catapult we made a public promise to help foster collaboration between all data stakeholders across all industries in order to unlock data challenges and accelerate great ideas to market. We believe the Environmental Data Exchange will do exactly this."
As the UK is required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, it is important for companies and governments to be able to understand at macro and micro-level the risks, impact, and opportunities for organisations related to environmental resources.
Tyler Christie, CEO, AMEE, said: "There is a lot of pressure on the Government, business community and the public, to reduce the UK’s environmental impact. Technology can make a huge difference – whether that is smart technology to reduce energy consumption or electric charging points to reduce our vehicle emissions."
"But if such innovations are really going to make an impact, the people and businesses developing them need to be able to access, analyse and draw from all environmental data. Understanding the challenge we are facing is absolutely fundamental to driving innovation and we are proud to be working with the Digital Catapult to help address this."
Registered users of the Environmental Data Exchange will be able to see and download the data from various sources, the hope is that this will drive innovation and value within the UK. As part of the platform, users will be able to upload their own data sources, metadata and to rate the datasets.
