The government is currently running consultations on two important aspects regarding the move towards a ‘data-driven’ economy. One is on open data (http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/making-open-data-real-public-consultation) and the other on the proposed Public Data Corporation (http://discuss.bis.gov.uk/pdc/).
The closing date for both of these consultations is now only 9 days away.
TSO has been at the centre of the drive to open up government data and our Senior Content Analyst, Paul Appleby, took part in a recent workshop at the Cabinet Office to discuss the Open Data consultation. It was a very interesting and enlightening few hours and many different viewpoints were put forward, ranging from straightforward transparency demands (or simply publish the data) to the need for a more sustainable approach to support re-publishing opportunities (where things such as return on investment and SLAs become important factors). Events such as this surface the incredible passion that certain people have about opening up government whilst reinforcing the benefits, both in terms of cost saving and economic growth, that may also be unlocked.
Whatever your view the workshop did highlight the many challenges that the government faces and it is great that the opportunity to respond to the consultations is available.