The National Data Library (NDL) is a government initiative aimed at  improving access to public sector data and supporting safe, trustworthy AI and R&D. It aims to make UK public‑sector data easier to find, access, link and use, to support public services delivery, whilst maintaining safeguards and public benefit.

A trial of the programme has revealed gaps in the UK’s public data infrastructure, hindering its ability to deliver results. The programme had to rely on poor quality and incomplete data – suggesting there are still improvements to be made before the programme can be rolled out at scale. 

The ‘NDL-Lite’ prototype trial was developed by the Open Data Institute (ODI) to test the government’s AI-enabled platform, assess readiness and explore potential use cases. 

Over 100,000 public datasets from six sources, including data.gov.uk, were processed over a four month period. 

What the trial revealed is that a number of government data sources are poorly labelled, outdated and inaccessible with significant inconsistencies across government bodies. 

This is resulting in the prototype system using unofficial sources such as news articles to respond to citizens queries, reducing reliability of outputs. 

Recommended reading

• ICO Issues Guidance on Facial Recognition Technology
• Discord Warns 70,000 Users May Have Had ID Images Accessed
• Discord to Make Age Verification Mandatory In “Teen-by-default” Move

The trial highlights the need for better quality, more accessible data to ensure the success of the NDL. 

Professor Elena Simperl, director of research at the ODI said: “The Government’s National Data Library has huge potential, but much of the data it would rely on is not yet usable by modern AI systems,” 

“If that doesn’t change, there is a risk that AI tools will increasingly rely on sources that are easier to access, rather than those that are most reliable.”