Introduction
The NBN Trust is applying to the Release of Data Fund for money to capture and make available datasets residing within NBN partner organisations which have not already been digitised. The aim is to help mobilise backlogs of legacy data which, although are of business value, have not yet been transferred to a computer format,  making them more useful for decision making either alone, or integrated with other information.

We want to dig out those species and habitat datasets which you have wanted to get captured for some time, but funding restrictions and other priorities have meant that they have never quite made it to the top of the to-do list.

We want you to nominate your datasets for consideration. You’ll need to be able to accurately describe them, explain why they are important, commit to keeping them updated and tell us why they have not already been captured.

We will get the datasets scanned and then digitised into the NBN Exchange format for species or a GIS format for habitats data. We will return the data to you. You must agree to make the data available through the NBN Gateway at capture resolution, and put in plans to update it and monitor its use on your systems; we will monitor its use on the NBN Gateway.

How to apply
Species data capture application: http://bit.ly/1lO8dTZ
Habitat data capture application: http://bit.ly/1rTpZpC

We need your submissions by 12 noon 9 July 2014

Practicalities
We hope to secure funding to capture both species and habitat datasets.
All data captured will be made available through the NBN Gateway and will be subject to the Open Government License on data.gov.uk, to high quality as outlined by ODI certification (https://certificates.theodi.org/).
You will need to demonstrate that funding for this data capture is not available from other sources.
Once the data is captured, you will have to commit to keeping it updated.
You will need to pay to collate and send the raw dataset to us.
We will cover all other costs including the return of the original data back to you.

Key Dates
We need your submissions by 9 July 2014
The deadline for us to get our submission is 14 July 2014
We expect to hear if our bid has been successful by the end of September 2014
If successful, we will need to start the data digitisation process in October 2014
All work needs to be completed by the end of March 2015

FAQ
Who will own the data once its digitised?
You will maintain ownership, but you will have to agree to making it available under the Open Government License.

Will I still be able to charge for searches of the data?   
Yes, although the data will be made freely available, you will still be able to charge for searches to it using your own systems.

Where will the data be hosted?    Data will be made available through the NBN Gateway.
What about sensitive records?    Sensitive records can have suitable restrictions applied to them.

What does ‘monitor use’ mean?   
This means that you need to keep a record of when and for what a dataset is used. It doesn’t need to be onerous, but it will be useful for justifying the spend if auditors take an interest in the future.

What will it cost us?   
You will need to make time available to collate the dataset and pay the postage charges to send the datasets to us.

What’s in it for us?   
You will receive the digitised data back, which you will be able to use in data searches within your organisation.

If the fund is oversubscribed, how will you decide which datasets get captured?   
The NBN Trust will establish a small panel to review the submissions and decide which datasets are likely to best fit the funds objectives.

How to apply
Species data capture application: http://bit.ly/1lO8dTZ
Habitat data capture application: http://bit.ly/1rTpZpC

I have some questions
Please contact:

Rachel Stroud - r.stroud@nbn.org.uk  07930 458737;
Sarah Hyslop - s.hyslop@nbn.org.uk  0115 924 7132; or
Tom Hunt - tom.hunt@alerc.org.uk 07972 131035

More information
Details of the fund: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati … -data-fund
Open Government Licence Information: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/ … version/2/

We need your submissions by 12 noon 9 July 2014