International News & Info
11/10/2012
Local Transparency and Open Data - a summary of the Open Data conference
Local and National Government Open Data across Europe - Cambridge October 26th 2012
Open data experts and enthusiasts from across the UK and Europe gathered in Jesus College, a 500 year old place of scholarly activity at Cambridge University, to demonstrate practical achievements and challenges on
- Why we need Open Data?
- What we can we do with Open Data?
- How to make them available?
Read the article here..
See the many interesting PPT's here..
08/05/2012
The Closed World of Company Data; An examination of how open company data is in Open Government Partnership countries
OpenCorporates, the Open Database of the Corporate World, recently published an interesting report on Open Government Partnership countries scoring badly for open access to company data.
Quote: "Virtually all OGP countries score very badly for openness of company data, with several – including countries such as Spain, Greece and Brazil – effectively closed for the public, civil society and the wider world, undermining corporate governance, and providing a fertile ground for corruption, money laundering, organised crime, and tax evasion".
Absolutely worth reading....Download it here
08/05/2012
New law obliges publishing of public data in open formats
30/04/2012
Brave New Open Data World?
There is a growing tendency to release all sorts of data on the Internet. The greater availability of interoperable public data catalyses secondary use of such data, which leads to growth of information industries and better government transparency. Open data policies may at the same time be in conflict with the individual’s right to information privacy as protected by the EU Privacy Directive.
Stefan Kulk (Delft University of Technology, OTB Research Institute for the Built Environment) and Bastiaan van Loenen from that same university ask some challenging questions.
Read the article here..
19/04/2012
Costs and benefits of open data 'are not properly understood', says watchdog
"Since data.gov.uk's creation in 2010, some 8,000 datasets have been released through the site, attracting over 1.75m visits."
The National Audit Office (NAO) has released a report on the transparancy of public information.
The conclusions: "Opening up access to public information has the potential to improve accountability and support public service improvement and economic growth. What the Government is lacking at the moment is a firm grasp of whether that potential is being realised. If transparency initiatives are to be more than aspirations, then Government needs to measure and monitor both their costs and benefits. This is vital for tracking success and learning what works."
Source: National Audit Office (http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/1012/implementing_transparency.aspx)
- Executive summary (opens in new window) (PDF - 95KB)
- Full report (opens in new window) (PDF - 794KB)
- Press notice (HTML)
- Detailed methodology - opens in new window (PDF - 166KB)
28/02/2012
A single European open data licence?
Neelie Kroes, the vice-president of the European commission, says in her blog today that "open data a cause is close to her heart". Back in December, Neelie put forward an ambitious legal proposal to unlock the goldmine and open up Europe’s public sector, "through a system that would be cheaper, easier to use and wider in scope than current rules". She goes on to say that "securing legal changes is her first priority and the EC we will be working with stakeholders on guidelines for licensing open government data: and on a pan-European portal as a single point of access to all such data." In the meantime", she says, "I’m sure you will be very actively following the discussions on the PSI Directive amendments, as they go through the Council and European Parliament: rest assured that I and my services will be. I hope that we can open up Europe’s public sector, and stimulate a market which could boost our economy and provide so much interesting content for web developers and users."
The intentions of the the vice-president in this regard, could very well mean that the initiative will influence all member states with regards to the way they shape their open data legislative and policy framework.
Read all about it here..
27/02/2012
Who suffers the most when talking about the present economical crisis? Which communities and social groups are hardest hit? Sargasso plans to gain insight through this innovative project.
On March 9, there will be a hackaton day in Rijswijk, Netherland. Sargasso brings journalists, experts, programmers and web designers together to access and analyze large amounts of data on related subjects.
The purpose is to construct an interactive map that will allow municipalities and groups to compare facts and figures on the effects of the crisis on poverty within their borders.
A worthwhile initiative and, for a change, something different from the usual apps for .... hacketons.
Read more here..
24/02/2012
Europeana's professional knowledge-sharing platform – a place for facilitating the exchange of information and knowledge about the digitisation of cultural heritage.
Europeana is a single access point to millions of books, paintings, films, museum objects and archival records that have been digitised.
The platform is an opportunity to reach out to more users, increase their web traffic, enhance their users' experience and build new partnerships.
Europeana is a platform for knowledge exchange between librarians, curators, archivists and the creative industries and a prestigious initiative endorsed by the European Commission, and is a means to stimulate creative economy and promote cultural tourism.
Read more here..
22/02/2012
Open data in Nederland: Ervaringen van eerstejaars studenten CMD
22/02/2012
The Open Knowledge Foundation are proud to announce the launch of version 1.0 of the Open Data Handbook (formerly the Open Data Manual):
Nationale App Prijs voor slimme toepassingen van overheidsdata
Making Open Data Work For Local Government
workshop was held on 'making open government data work for local government'.
