UK Government Moves to Put Data on the Web

Today, 10th if June, the Office of the Prime Minister in the UK announced that Tim Berners-Lee will “help drive opening of access to Government data on the web over the coming months.” The announcement is an important step in helping to fulfill the vision for a Web of Linked Open Data built on W3C's open Semantic Web standards, espoused by Berners-Lee in his TED 2009 talk. “Government data—the people’s data is an important component to the larger Linked Open Data movement," said Berners-Lee. “I look forward to working with multiple government agencies and local enthusiasts to help early adopters bring their data to the bigger picture.” In April, Berners-Lee engaged similarly with the US government offering to help them join the “rapidly growing Linked Open Data cloud, to which US recovery data will be a welcome addition.” W3C's own eGovernment Interest Group has also been actively building an international network of support to work with governments on issues of transparency, accountability, and efficiency through open data.