Open data event to lift lid on research possibilities

Life

17 October 2011

A worldwide movement which aims to unlock the value of public data will be the focus of a free symposium, Opening Up Government Data, on 8 November. Hosted by the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) at NUI Galway, the event will show the potential benefits of open data to public authorities, businesses, organisations and citizens.

The goal of the open data initiative is to motivate governments to make public information freely available and easily accessible online. The potential benefits are economic, through the identification of new business opportunities, and also social, through increased transparency and accountability.

DERI has been developing tools and technologies that are being adopted around the world, and Web standards developed at the institute have been adopted by the Obama administration in their open government initiatives. In Ireland, DERI collaborates closely with local authorities such as Fingal County Council and the Local Government Computer Services Board, as well as the National Cross-Industry Working Group on Open Data to promote Open Data.

Different types of data sets used to date include road extension plans, teacher-pupil ratios, hospital attendance rates and planning applications.

Deirdre Lee, e-government leader at DERI, said: "One of the leading examples of opening up government data is data.gov, the US open data website launched by the Obama administration… In Ireland, one of the early adaptors has been Fingal County Council, with DUBLinked, a consortium of Dublin councils, set to launch a similar open data website."

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