Data Feeds

Overview

OpenActive is an initiative that promotes the use of open data to help people become more active. It aims to make opportunities to be active as discoverable as possible, similar to how one might find a hotel room or flight online.

OpenActive is primarily concerned with feeds of "opportunity data" – that is, information about what, where and when activities are taking place. To take advantage of the OpenActive ecosystem of data users, data must be published via open data feeds.

OpenActive specifications can be used to publish three types of physical activity opportunity:

• Sessions and facility listings, which may also be bookable

• Organiser listings or directories

• Route guides

Listing-only vs Bookable Opportunity Data Feeds

For opportunities with scheduled dates and times, OpenActive supports two levels of user interaction, and a data publisher must choose which level they wish to implement:

1. Listing-only Opportunity Data:

   • Data that includes near-real-time up-to-date details about a physical activity opportunity that can be discovered by potential participants. Listing data typically includes information like the type of activity, time, location, price, provider and availability.

   • The main goal of this data is to allow potential participants to find opportunities that match their interests and availability, and are actually happening.

   • However, the listing data itself doesn't enable users to reserve or book a place in the activity directly. It's more of an informative listing that helps people discover available opportunities.

   • Implementation requirements: opportunity data RPDE feeds that include deep-link URLs to the opportunity within the listing or booking system.

2. Bookable Opportunity Data:

   • This refers to data and functionality that allows potential participants to not only discover an activity but also to reserve or book a place directly through a platform or application.

   • It enables integration with booking systems to allow real-time availability checking and booking.

   • Offering bookable data can lead to an increase in participation since it makes the process more streamlined for users — they can find and book an activity all in one place.

   • Implementation requirements: opportunity data RPDE feeds and the Open Booking API.

In summary, while "listing-only" data offers up-to-date information about physical activity opportunities, "bookable" data takes it a step further by allowing direct reservations or bookings. The implementation of both provides a seamless experience from discovery to participation.

These feeds must be published using the OpenActive Real-time Paged Data Exchange (RPDE) specification, which provides a mechanism to allow systems to synchronise database state in near-realtime.

Organiser Data Feeds

Activity organisers (e.g. local sports clubs) are crucial entry points for participation. Many do not yet manage their sessions or facility slots online, or are not in a position to publish individual scheduled opportunities. We are piloting new data feeds to boost their discoverability and attract new participants. National Governing Bodies, maintaining lists of accredited clubs, are a potential source of quality open data feeds.

This data typically includes information about the organisation itself, primary activities, location, contact details, operating hours, membership, and facilities.

Route Guide Data Feeds

We are piloting new data feeds to support activities such as walking, running, cycling, or paddling. Such data can be consumed by platforms that support navigation, social sharing, and peer-to-peer route discovery.

Route guide data can include geographical information, difficulty, duration estimates, accessibility details, points of interest, and user-generated feedback/reviews.

Primary sources

Opportunity data must always be published from primary sources (e.g. the booking system that an organiser uses to manage their own activities) rather than secondary sources (e.g. a third-party survey of organisers or web form which captures the sessions they are currently running)

Publishing data from primary sources rather than secondary sources is essential for several reasons:

1. Accuracy: Primary sources provide data directly from the organiser or provider of opportunity, which means it's more likely to be accurate and up-to-date. Secondary sources such as surveys and forms are usually not thoroughly reviewed by providers. Much less care and attention is taken when filling in these forms than on the activity provider's own website and booking system.

2. Timeliness: Activities, classes, and schedules often change. Primary sources like booking systems are updated in real-time, so the information is always current. Relying on secondary sources would mean periodic data collection, which can become quickly outdated.

3. Scalability: As the number of activity providers grows, it becomes increasingly expensive for secondary sources to maintain a large set of data. Primary sources do not require any such central maintenance overhead.

4. Data richness: Primary sources can often provide a richer dataset, including details about availability, pricing, venue facilities, instructor qualifications, and more. This can offer a more complete picture for end-users, helping them make informed decisions.

5. Reduced burden: For activity providers, integrating their primary booking or management systems once with OpenActive can reduce the burden of repeatedly reporting data or filling out surveys. It's a "set it and forget it" approach, which is more efficient in the long run.

6. Trustworthiness: Data users and consumers will trust data more when they know it's coming directly from the source and is current. This trustworthiness is likely to increase the adoption of applications and platforms that use OpenActive data, and increase consumer confidence of data from our sector.

In conclusion, to provide real-time, accurate, and comprehensive data about scheduled physical activity opportunities, relying on primary sources is much more effective and efficient.

That said, the OpenActive ecosystem is evolving and we recognise there are other valuable data types - like clubs and routes - that can help potential participants find and plan physical activity.

How an RPDE data feed works