In most cases the data is structured as indicators and is linked to discrete geographic areas, for example population figures for US counties or numbers claiming unemployment benefit across wards in England.
To date it is not widely used elsewhere although other terms like community information systems apply to solutions, primarily in North America, that have a great deal of overlap.
[1] The primary application for LIS is to provide a place-focused evidence base that is easily accessible to a wide range of users including data experts, managers, policy makers, front-line staff and citizens.
They provide a wide range of statistics and reports allowing users to review the current evidence base and build a picture of localities and neighbourhoods for their area of interest.
Most common is some form of domain specific classification where indicators are grouped into top level categories like ‘Demography’, ‘Health and Welfare’, ‘Crime and Community Safety’, ‘Education and Children's Services’, ‘Environment’ and ‘Economy’.
In the UK key government data sources include ONS Neighbourhood Statistics, CLG, Dept for Work and Pensions, NOMIS, Audit Commission and several areas of NHS information services.