UK government open data: good bad or dangerous? Tell us what you think ~ Technology Update

Thursday, August 4, 2011

UK government open data: good bad or dangerous? Tell us what you think

1:00 AM latest techno report No comments

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Cabinet Secretary Francis Maude is launching a major consultation today on the UK government's open data programme. What do you think of it so far?

How transparent is this Liberal-Conservative Coalition? After all the big promises to unleash "tsunamis of data", how are they doing?

A year ago, people were asking if the project had run out of steam, spurred by deep cuts to the funding of data.gov, across the Atlantic.

But it appears to have got a second wind now. There's a new-look data.gov.uk and some serious releases in the past few weeks, including: top civil servant pay; the whole government accounts and organograms of every Whitehall department.

As well as a major new transparency initiative.

Today, Francis Maude has announced a new consultation on its open data project. It is asking the following questions:

• How we might enhance a 'right to data', establishing stronger rights for individuals, businesses and other actors to obtain data from public service providers;
• How to set transparency standards that enforce this right to data;
• How public service providers might be held to account for delivering open data;
• How we might ensure collection and publication of the most useful data;
• How we might make the internal workings of government and the public sector more open; and
• How far there is a role for government to stimulate enterprise and market making in the use of open data.

That's in addition to the work they're doing on a new public data corporation - which some are still pretty nervous about.

The government is convinced by the McKinsey argument that billions can be made by open data - €250bn across Europe per year is what they say.

Well, what do you think - both of what we've seen so far and of the questions they're asking? Have your say in the comment field below.