DATA.gov: Opening Doors
Title: UK set to follow successful US data method
Author: Charles Arthur, The Guardian Newspaper, editor of Technology Guardian
Read Charles Arthur’s article discussing UK plans to create its own version of the American DATA.gov site.
Read the Full Text of the Article
Charles Arthur comments in the introduction:
“The UK government is preparing its own version of the US's "data.gov" site, which lets anyone download datasets generated by the US government in various formats and use them as they wish.
Data.gov -unveiled in mid-May - is intended to give US citizens direct access to non-personal information collected by taxpayer-funded agencies. By dint of having funded the collection, US citizens and organisations are automatically given rights to reuse the data as they wish - including commercially for profit.”
The article notes discussion about the UK plans on the new UK Cabinet Office, Digital Engagement Blog.
“Now the UK government has picked up on the idea, and in a post on the Cabinet Office blog Richard Stirling is asking the British public how a UK version of the US site should be implemented. "What characteristics would be most useful to you - feeds (ATOM or RSS) or bulk download by FTP?," he asks. "Should this be an index or a repository? Should this serve particular types of data eg XML, JSON or RDF?"
The introduction to the site comments on the goals of the site.
“The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Although the initial launch of Data.gov provides a limited portion of the rich variety of Federal datasets presently available, we invite you to actively participate in shaping the future of Data.gov by suggesting additional datasets and site enhancements to provide seamless access and use of your Federal data. Visit today with us, but come back often. With your help, Data.gov will continue to grow and change in the weeks, months, and years ahead.”
Related News
Microsoft announces Open Government Data Initiative (OGDI)
UK Guardian Newspaper Free Our Data (FOD) Campaign
- 42 reads
