Friday lunchtime lecture: How open data revolutionised London transport

Friday lunchtime lectures are for everyone and are free to attend. You bring your lunch, we provide tea and coffee, an interesting talk, and enough time to get back to your desk.

Research released by Deloitte in October this year showed that the release of open data by Transport for London (TfL) is generating annual economic benefits and savings of up to £130m a year

For almost ten years, TfL has been releasing a significant amount of open data, from air quality information to wifi access points, allowing developers and partners to bring new products and services to market more quickly.

TfL has worked with a wide range of professional and amateur developers, ranging from start-ups to global innovators, to deliver new products in the form that customers want. This has led to more than 600 apps now being powered specifically using TfL's open data feeds, used by 42 per cent of Londoners.

Rikesh Shah, Head of Commercial Innovation at TfL, will talk about their open data journey, how open data has created an eco-system of innovators. Rikesh will also highlight the successful factors and outcomes around start-up engagement with corporates and some of the challenges around procurement.

About the speaker

Rikesh Shah is the Head of Commercial Innovation at Transport for London, the authority responsible for delivering the London Mayor’s transport strategy. He has been at TfL for over 16 years, previously in the areas of commercial development, communications and digital.

He is responsible for creating value in the future mobility space from market innovators including start ups, academics, transport operators, regional agencies, R&D organisations and corporates. This involves on-going engagement with this community, utilising the right procurement processes, developing the right culture and providing the right level of access to data and policy makers.

Previous to this role, Rikesh led TfL’s open data programme, digital commercial activity, stakeholder engagement and communications supporting TfL’s digital transformation strategy. By building digital and data partnerships with start- ups, as well as leading technology platforms including Twitter, Amazon and Google, Rikesh has been at the forefront of TfL’s Open Data provision to over 13,000 developers producing over 600 customer facing travel apps used by 42% of Londoners. This has placed customer digital at the core of TfL’s business.