GeoPlace's Managing Director, Nick Chapallaz spoke in the recent UK Authority webinar 'AI & Data4Good 2025'. Throughout 2025 the Government has trumpeted the importance of AI in transforming public services, but what does the public sector need to do today to ensure it has the data foundations from which to unlock its full power?

•    What standards and APIs should be common across the public sector?
•    How do we build the data foundations needed to harness AI and ML responsibly?
•    What are the ethical, legal and practical challenges of deploying AI in public services?
•    What does a new wave of AI tools and techniques mean for your organisation?.

Nick spoke on 'The power of identifiers in an AI world'. Without unique identifiers, data becomes harder to manage, prone to duplication and errors, and far less effective as a foundation for decision-making and service delivery. Examples of unique identifiers are your NHS record, your National Insurance Number and your car registration number plate.
There are also identifiers for location. When councils deliver services to place, utilising these is vital.

UPRNs and USRNs are these powerful tools that enable data-driven decision-making across the organisation. By linking services, systems, and intelligence to a single, definitive reference point, they break down departmental silos, improve operational efficiency, and enhance service delivery.

This session explores the issues and importance of data strategies and standards for local authorities in a time of re-organisation, technological change and growing citizen expectation.

Speakers

Nick  was one of a series of speakers across a three day event. Other presentations can be found on the full set of sessions at the UKA site.