London, 5 April 2011,

(by Katleen Janssen)

On the 5th of April, The National Archives published the United Kingdom Annual Report on the Re-use of Public Sector Information for 2010. According to Jim Wretham, Head of Information Policy at the National Archives, “'The report reinforces the increasing focus and sense of momentum with the Public Sector Information agenda, not only in the UK but across the world.”

The Report gives an overview of the progress in the UK with regard to PSI policy in 2010. Important milestones in the UK information landscape include the establishment of the Transparency Agenda and the Transparency Board, the UK Government Licensing Framework, legislation.gov.uk and data.gov.uk, a new business strategy for Ordnance Survey, and local government examples. Considerable attention has also been paid to raising awareness and using technical solutions to facilitate the re-use of PSI.

TNA also looks forward. Some of its future aims include:

• extending the scope and take-up of the UK Government Licensing Framework across the public sector;
• contributing to the government’s transparency agenda by promoting PSI best practice;
• demonstrating practical linked data initiatives that facilitate the re-use of PSI;
• engaging with key stakeholders across the public sector to free up further information for re-use;
• delivering a coherent and joined-up approach to information management and practice;
• increasing the usability of datasets available via data.gov.uk through the provision of effective metadata;
• …