Our plan for data.gov.uk
We’re updating data.gov.uk, with new curated collections of data, and a data manual to support the data community.
You can still search the data directory, which we are working on.
data.gov.uk roadmap
This roadmap sets out our priorities and direction for data.gov.uk, as of March 2026:
- “Now” covers work that’s underway
- “Next” describes areas we expect to explore once current work has progressed
- “Later” describes our longer-term direction – at this stage, these are aims rather than confirmed commitments
Our priorities may change as we learn more about what our users need. We’ve included a feedback form on many of the new pages.
We’ll update this roadmap at least every 6 months in a commitment to work in the open.
Now
data.gov.uk is designed to help people find and reuse public data, but for many reasons the current approach has failed and led to broken links and low usage.
We want to change this and create a modern home to UK public data which maximises the use of available data to make good decisions, build innovative services, learn and experiment.
Our current focus is on setting up the foundations to a modern home for UK public data by:
- making it easier to identify and use trusted useful data across key national
- emes (new data collections pages)
- creating a data manual - a single space to find clear guidance and best
- actices on how to use and manage public data
- fixing significant issues with the original data.gov.uk directory
- sharing this public roadmap and creating clear user feedback forms
Curated useful data
We’ve created data collections pages, organised by theme, based on some of the UK’s widely used public datasets. We selected datasets which are well maintained, reliable and authoritative, with complete information, wide coverage and which are often available via API(s).
We’re testing how we present these curated data pages, including what information and design help users understand and use the data. We welcome your input on what works well, and suggestions for what we can improve.
Data manual with guidance for publishers and users
Guidance on creating, managing and using data across the UK public sector is available in many places. We’ve started developing a data manual that brings together the most useful current guidance to make it easier for users to find relevant information. We want this to become an authoritative source on ‘how the public sector does data’ and how to work with this data.
We welcome your feedback on the data manual – whether you find it helpful, and if anything is missing, unclear or inaccurate.
Critical improvements to the original data.gov.uk directory
Limited data.gov.uk maintenance in the last few years has led to broken features and data links. We’re identifying and addressing broken links and outdated datasets, and fixing issues with the publishing process in the original data.gov.uk directory.
Because our primary focus is testing new ways of presenting data through curating useful data, for the moment we’ll mainly spend time on fixing the directory’s critical issues that affect a lot of users. That means you may still experience issues or see data of lesser quality when navigating the data directory.
You can continue to publish and update your data following the publisher process.
If you think you have data that might be a good candidate for the new curated data pages, tell us about your data in the feedback form.
Next
Growing curated data and streamlining guidance
We’ll test the curated data listings with users and make improvements based on their feedback. This may include exploring ways to automate metadata updates to these pages. We’ll also add more data listings and streamline the data manual by experimenting with how we best present the information.
Improving discovery
As we increase the amount of curated data on the platform, we’ll focus on how to improve search and browsing. We’ll trial different approaches to see what reduces effort in finding relevant data, including experimenting with new technologies and optimising for machine interactions.
Platform redesign
Fixing issues and testing new approaches will help us understand the requirements that a modern data portal needs to meet. We expect we’ll need to redesign core parts of the current service to meet these requirements before more closely linking the new data collections and former data directory.
Later
An extended front door to government data
We’d like to: - help users navigate different types of government data, beyond open data - curate new data, which may not be available anywhere yet - make relationships between datasets clearer – this may include enriching metadata and experimenting with user-generated metadata
Stronger foundations for reuse
We’d like to: - explore interoperability with other data services - experiment with options to promote data reuse through best practice use cases, common data service components and gamification - develop tools and support for experimentation with government data
Out of scope
The following are not current priorities:
- replacing specialist or departmental data services
- mandating data publication or standards across government
- providing data exchange tools
- providing a new central or distributed data catalogue for any data (data will be curated)