This week I was inspired by the Second Citadel White Paper to try out the solution for myself. I am, in data terms, a complete novice. I have seen very few datasets let alone used one to build an app. Yet I decided with Citadel's simple solution even I might be able to get somewhere!

I started by getting some data from my local authority (Warwickshire) to see what they had available. I never really expected to be able to use the data but once I had found their catalogue, I become interested by a set of data with all the cultural and archaeological sites in the county. As someone who is very interested in these historical sites, I found myself drawn to the many medieval villages which no longer exist but whose foundations and earthworks can still be seen today. Long story short I began gathering and cleaning up the data from the datasets.

The very same day, I used the to make my CSV data into a JSON file and used the app generator to build a beautiful and useful app which I think Warwickshire County Council will be delighted to hear about! For me, as someone who works with Citadel, this was an epiphany. My app is just the type of activity I think was envisioned when Citadel was established. I am someone with very little technical ability who has been enabled to make something truly useful and interesting by our Citadel solution and the great instructions from our White Paper!

I would seriously recommend our White Paper to any city looking to make their data not only more available but for fun for average citizens like me! This outcome makes me very proud to be working with the project.

If any of you are interested to see the app, you can play with it !