Madrid: April 2010

Spain’s PSI Information Service, Proyecto Aporta, published a blog post reflecting many emerging Spanish examples of the re-use of government data.

The examples are extensive, they are strong applications and viable. Very simply, the examples demonstrate that: Spanish Government promotion of re-use via Proyecto Aporta and information society policies plus an entrepreneurial spirit combined with innovation know how, and of course, access to government data leads to open data success for business and citizens.

Many of the persons behind these re-use examples will be participating in the Madrid Meeting on the 8th June: ‘Realising the Value of Public Sector Information’. Proyecto Aporta and the ePSIplatform invite you to participate and meeting the people behind the examples and to share experiences.

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Here is what Proyecto Aporta said in their post entitled: “New cases of Success: Re-use Power”

“The growing momentum by the Spanish Government to the opening up and disseminating of information has enabled the public sector, and in recent times the emergence, almost simultaneously, new products and services of great social and economic value are emerging.

The re-use of public sector information, as noted in the blog post of April 12, is contributing not only to the creation of new avenues for citizen participation and the modernisation of governance, but also is promoting an economic model most innovative and dynamic.

No doubt, in this sense that both the European Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information as our Law 37/2007 have contributed to greater awareness among the public sector, businesses and citizens values and benefits of re-use.

Businesses such as Euroalert.net (see article) and free applications such as parlio.org collaborative nature (of the creative and the Linking Paths and Personnalité this blog and spent a post just five months) are good examples of that effort; government, citizens and businesses.

The celebration of the PSI Meeting in Madrid, scheduled for June 8th, is an excellent opportunity to analyse some of the initiatives that have emerged recently and are in line with the aims of Proyecto Aporta.

This applies, for example, Rodalia.info, a collaborative application to be designed by the company Pimpampum.net and Roger Melcior that uses social networks to inform real-time traffic conditions and more accessible routes within the Commuter rail service in Catalonia.

This tool, which is nourished by contributions from users and managing data RENFE, the Information Center Transmeta and the Generalitat de Catalunya, is based on the same principles of re-use of public sector information previously implanted in the subways of New York and New Jersey (USA) and Zurich (Switzerland), among others.

Deserving of special mention is also Goolzoom.com, a service that integrates spatial and geographic information from Google Maps, registered at the Land Registry General Directorate, the identification system for agricultural parcels (SigPac) of the Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine , cartographic and other public sources.

The application, according to its developers (Jesus Barrio and goolinvent.com), unifies and simplifies access to land information, providing undeniable benefits to real estate professionals and urban planning.

Another interesting initiative is found in the Legalsolo.com project, a platform for legal practitioners from public sources such as the Official State Bulletin (BOE) offers free legal information (selected, annotated and labeled).

To do this, its promoters, Borja Ramirez and Angel Maldonado, use a search engine and automatic classification of entries on legislation and case law that integrates both official data and expert commentary drawn from social networks, properly related by each type of entry and registration.

Finally, the contest AbreDatos Challenge deserves a special mention which was"launched from the platform Pono Pro Publico in order to promote the use of open standards, access to government information and encourage the creation of new services and applications based on information from the public sector.

Such practical examples encourage professionals and governments to continue working on developing the potential of re-use of public sector information.”

Follow Proyecto Aporta on Twitter: @ProyectoAporta

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