ODI Fridays: Armchair auditor in action - mapping UK shale gas extraction - with Gianfranco Cecconi

In 2010, David Cameron described how he expected an army of concerned citizen to become “effective armchair auditors” and use open data to “look over the books, denounce waste, the expensive vanity projects and pointless schemes that we’ve had in the past”. Gianfranco Cecconi shared how, on a dull December afternoon in 2013, he rolled up his sleeves and sat in his armchair… to build a map of UK oil and gas licensing. The map shows existing and potential areas where shale gas extraction could take place, according to the latest DECC open data. Gianfranco explained his findings, what caused him to retrain as a data scientist and how you might get involved in doing something similar. “Open data wants you, too.” he says.