The UK government has announced its commitment to collect, use, exchange and publish beneficial ownership information using the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard (BODS) after approval by the Open Standards Board.

At Open Data Services, we build and maintain BODS in partnership with Open Ownership who fund and steward the standard. As a company owned by our workers, building a data standard to increase transparency about company ownership and control is a natural fit for our co-operative.

Beneficial Ownership Lead Kadie Armstong said:

“The UK’s adoption of BODS is great news for the standard and for beneficial ownership transparency. Information about ownership and control of companies needs to be open, high-quality and in a standardised format — it’s one key piece of the puzzle that helps build visibility of global corporate structures. We look forward to accelerating adoption of the standard in the UK and beyond.”

This is the third time that a data standard initially developed or maintained by Open Data Services Co-operative has been approved by the Open Standards Board for UK government use. We’ve also supported the 360 Giving Data Standard, used to publish grants data, and the Open Contracting Data Standard, used to publish procurement data. In addition, we’re active members of the International Aid Transparency Initiative, providing tools, infrastructure and services to organisations publishing data about international development to the IATI Data Standard.

Open Data Services Member and Director Jack Lord said:

“We are delighted that BODS has been chosen as an open standard for government in the UK. This is a marker of Open Data Services Co-operative’s ongoing commitment to create data standards that bridge the gap between the aims of policy-makers and the information infrastructure that enables complex change”.