Data.gov.uk - Making Public Data public

January 21, 2010

Speech by: Stephen Timms MP
Venue: Guardian News and Media, London
I am delighted to be here today to launch the "beta" of data.gov.uk. We promised this in Smarter Government; today we deliver it, with over 2,500 data sets.

Government Data
Government has a unique role in the data economy. We gather definitive reference information across a huge number of different areas. If you want to know:

• whether or not a company exists;
• whether it is solvent; or
• whether the products it is selling are safe for consumers

we hold that data. If you need to know

• whether the house you about to buy is built correctly;
• whether it is prone to flooding; or
• whether it is handy for the buses;

We have data on those too.
If you want to know how many fish there are in the English channel, I am reliably informed that we have data about that.

What’s more, as the Prime Minister identified in his Liberty speech back in October 2007 – "Public information does not belong to Government, it belongs to the public on whose behalf government is conducted".

Data.gov.uk
So on 10 June last year, the Prime Minister told the House of Commons he wanted Government information to be accessible and useful to the widest possible group of people, and that he had asked Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Professor Nigel Shadbolt to help us drive the opening up of access to Government data.

In the seven months since then Tim and Nigel have achieved a lot:

• in Smarter Government we set out clear principles for the release of public data which apply to all departments;
• we have built a developer preview of data.gov.uk, and engaged over 2000 people in helping us improve it and telling us what data would be most valuable to them and in what format;
• we have drawn together over 2,500 data sets into a single, easy to find, place.
• we have agreed an open licence that allows the re-use of the government owned data to be freely re-used with no bureaucracy
• we have set out commitments to release high interest datasets over the next few months in weather, transport and public finances
• We have launched a consultation on how Ordnance Survey can open up some of its datasets, including those people using other government data have told us would be most useful to them. Do make sure you respond to that consultation if you are interested.

Tim and Nigel: that we have achieved so much so quickly is a testament to the leadership and drive that you have injected into the work across Government.

But I know you would also want me to say how delighted we are by the support and feedback from the development community, and how that has been valuable in steering and prioritising the work. That’s been a distinguishing feature of the UK approach. We decided to move very quickly to set up a developer preview of how data.gov.uk might work, so that we could engage with potential users quickly and effectively.

Today we are releasing a new version of data.gov.uk. It is now fully open to view, and its features reflect feedback from developers. But it also includes lots of membership functions so that developers can continue to engage with us and with each other as we take the Public Data work forward.

This is not the end of the process. Data.gov.uk is what the technical world calls a "beta" – it is usable now. Over the next few months:

• Government departments will release more and more datasets on to it;
• we will continue to develop the functions in response to feedback;
• we will make more and more data available in Linked Data form, as well as in raw form;
• we will encourage other parts of the public sector to apply the same principles of public data and to contribute data to data.gov.uk; Nigel has already had the first meeting of his Local Public Data Panel to drive this forward in local government; and
• we set out other public data actions in Smarter Government before Christmas.

And, more than that, we have established further release and reuse of Public Data as key to our plans for reforming Government, implementing the principles spelt out in Smarter Government in order to strengthen the role of citizens and civic society, recast the relationships between the citizen and the State, and streamline Government.

Success in Public Data is not just about what the Government can do. It requires Government and developers – both community developers and businesses – to work together to deliver value for society and growth to the economy. So we want to continue to hear from you:

• what further data is the priority to allow you to create new and innovative services;
• how we can further improve the data.gov.uk service; and
• about your applications and ideas, and how these are being used by people to get a clear view of how government is working on their behalf, how their public services are performing and could be improved, and to allow them to lead safer, more sustainable, more empowered lives.

Applications
That last point is vital. The challenge for all of us is to make this real. We need new businesses, generating profit. We need new social ventures, benefiting all of us, and particularly those experiencing disadvantage. We need to build on exciting early shoots like: the Postcode Paper , ITOworld and Mapumental to deliver real benefits that people can understand.

The Public Sector can offer a wide range of support to help in growing and developing ideas, for example through Business Link.

And I warmly welcome the announcement by 4iP that they will make two investments of up to £100k each in start-ups that use public data.

In 2008, the Power of Information Taskforce headed by Richard Allan – on the panel here today – ran a competition called Show Us A Better Way. With over 450 ideas submitted, the response was astonishing.

Now we have been thinking further about what more we could do to support this sector in the UK and provide a new showcase for British talent?

So, over the next few months, we will be looking to work closely with the innovative web sector in the UK to help showcase British talent in the use of public data.

Summary
Before you hear from Tim and Nigel on the detail of data.gov.uk, I want to leave you with:

• Transparency and Accountability – We want you to see how Government is working on your behalf.
• Improving Public Services – we want you to be able to tell us how we could do better.
• Economic and Social Value and Growth – we want you to develop new, innovative information-based businesses and communities.

We have come a long way in a short time, but there is a great deal more to do. We need your help to shape this in the period ahead. We need you developing, building and telling others what you have done.

Thank you for organising today and pulling this event together. Let’s work together to make the most of these very important opportunities.

Thank you.