Data is a Product

Hello there! As some of you may know, I'm a member of the Open Data User Group that's been set up to help the UK Government understand the requirements for more public owned data to be released to all. One of the most common requests received by us and various public bodies is for an open address file. Today, many organisations use Royal Mail PAF or other files from the likes of the Ordnance Survey. Most of these cost money and have various license conditions attached. On top of this, the fact that there are lots of alternatives is plainly confusing. Today, the Open Data User Group have called for the Open release of Royal Mail PAF, OS AddressBase Plus and the National Street Gazetteer to form the backbone of an open and accurate national address register for the UK. More information on our work can be found on the Guardian and the Governments' Open Data site. I'm sure this will kick off a fascinating debate and hopefully will lead to changes in the address da...

Following on from my excited picture post last week, I've now digested the Government White Paper on Open Data: Unleashing the Potential. My thoughts are below and I'm sure they will be similar to the thoughts of many other people around the industry. For a nice run down, check out this article at the Guardian. In short, the White Paper gives an update on progress made so far and the plans for the future. One of the most significant things here is the apparent passion for the movement shown by Francis Maude MP. In fact, during his launch he spoke many times of his team of 'Guerrillas' and 'Zealots' who are running round Whitehall, encouraging their colleagues (apparently in many different ways) to get behind Transparency and take the risk. A few key points for you: Over 9,000 datasets have been made available on www.data.gov.uk . The site has been redesigned to make it easier to search for data and use it. Every department has now published it's Ope...