UK government datasets now freely available for re-use

«Making public data available for re-use is about increasing accountability and transparency and letting people create new, innovative ways of using it. Government data should be a public resource. By releasing it, we can unlock new ideas for delivering public services, help communities and society work better, and let talented entrepreneurs and engineers create new businesses and services.» With these words Sir Tim Berners-Lee announced today the launch of Data.gov.uk, a collection of over 2,500 UK government datasets - now freely available to the public for consultation and re-use.

The Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN, a COMMUNIA member) worked closely with the Cabinet Office team to make Data.gov.uk a reality - the repository is even using CKAN, the OKFN open source registry of open data. More details - including a selection of the great media coverage about the launch - are available on this OKFN page. [21jan10]