New Report + Updates: Helping Communities Access Data
Hello!
It’s been a little while since our last update, and we’re excited to share some of what we’ve been working on at Digital Commons Co-operative.
What we do remains clear: we build tech tools for social change, working alongside social movements to turn data into knowledge.
✂️ TL;DR
New report: our new report shows why social movements and community groups need broader access to UK land registry data. Over 18-months, our tool Land Explorer helped groups to fight the housing crisis, start community gardens, protect local green space, rewild land, and beyond. We’re now asking the Land Registry to bulk out the data that is made available to small community groups. 👉 Read the report here
Land Explorer update: a new update just went live (details below)!
New blog on AI: We’ve drafted working guidelines to help steer our thinking on the ethical use of AI 👉 Read it here
Connect with us: Please get in touch if you think that your group could benefit from Land Explorer (just reply to this email). We’ve also recently joined Bluesky and you can follow us here!
💻 What we’re working on
New report
Understanding who owns land is one of the most opaque and important questions in the UK today. That’s why we developed Land Explorer, a free and easy-to-use tool that helps social movements see who owns what and take action.
We recently measured how people use Land Explorer to improve their communities. Over 18 months, the tool was used for community organising, ecological regeneration, renewable energy, food growing, housing justice campaigns, and more.
Key findings
65% of users accessed Land Explorer for community purposes, compared to 12% for commercial use, which shows just how vital broader access to land registry data is for grassroots groups.
A wide range of sectors relied on the tool: community interest organisations, research & education, local authorities, energy and community energy groups, parks, allotments, farms, environmental trusts & charities, housing organisations, unions, resident associations, and the media.
👉 Read the full report + technical recommendations here
Off the back of this report, we’re asking the Land Registry to expand public access to data and to recognise and fund civil society organisations as key users of land ownership data.
🌱 Land Explorer update
Speaking of Land Explorer, our next release just went live! Updates include:
A new layer showing unregistered land
UX improvements based on user feedback
Anonymised usage analytics to help shape future development
🤖 New blog: our thoughts on ethical use of AI
We’ve been thinking carefully about how social movements (ourselves included) can use AI ethically.
We’ve created a set of ethical working guidelines to help collectivise our approach. They cover:
Minimising environmental impact
Protecting user safety
Being transparent about AI’s risks and limitations
👉 Read the full post and guidelines here
Connect with us
🌱 Expanding Land Explorer
Are you part of a group fighting the housing crisis, setting up a community garden, protecting local green space, or rewilding land? Could your community benefit from Land Explorer? We’d love to hear from you. 👉 Email us here
🦋 Bluesky
We’ve joined Bluesky! You can find us here. We’ll share updates on our work and highlight the great efforts of colleagues working to democratise access to information.
In solidarity,
The DCC team