The UK government is considering launching an open source
data website, similar to thedata.govsite launched
by the US government in May.
A post by Richard Stirling on the Cabinet Office's
digital engagement blog asks for views on what services the
site might provide.
The US site aims to improve access to government-generated data,
and wants people to use it in innovative ways.
The
US government says of the site, "A primary goal of Data.gov is
to improve access to Federal data and expand creative use of those
data beyond the walls of government by encouraging innovative ideas
(eg, web applications). Data.gov strives to make government more
transparent." It wants to increase public participation and
collaboration.
The UK's Power of Information Task Force has told the government
that one of its main information-related problems for people is
knowing what's been published, what form it is in and how it might
be used. Stirling said on the blog that the Cabinet Office is
looking into how it might do this.
The government is also looking into what features would be most
useful to users - such as feeds, or bulk downloads; whether the
site should be an index or repository; what types of data it should
serve; what other sites it should be looking to for inspiration;
and whether the site needs its own domain or could exist within
direct.gov.uk.
Officials will be following views on the Twitter tags #poit and
#opendata. The UK government is on a drive to increase its digital
engagement with people following the appointment of Andrew Stott as
Director of Digital Engagement, who has an IT and culture change
background. He is on Twitter as
@dirdigeng.