Links to Public Sector Information (PSI) Re-use Web Resources

The European Commission's Information Society Web Portal on Public Sector Information (Access and Re-use) covering topics such as: PSI Directive, Implementation, PSI Group, Practices in Member States, PSI Projects and more.

The data.gov.uk site was launched by the UK government on the 21 January 2010. It provides access to data sets from across the UK government with access to more data sets planned. All of the data is in non-personal and in a format that can be re-used by any individual or business to create innovative new software tools, such as applications about house prices, local amenities, and services or access to local hospitals. The site includes documentation on its work and future development plans as well as a forum, blog, wiki and resources pages with options for sharing ideas and discussing technical issues.

Le collectif RegardsCitoyens.org est une association de fait constituée de citoyens de tous âges et régions qui se sont rencontrés sur Internet dans un désir commun de proposer un accès simplifié au fonctionnement de nos institutions démocratiques.

English Translation: Regards Citoyens is French Association of citizens with shared interest in opening up information about the functioning of democratic institutions in France. They follow the global open data movement and work together with international organisations such as the Open Knowledge Foundation. The site includes a blog, press and more.

Follow Regards Citoyens on Twitter

The Talis Nodalities Blog publishes podcasts of in-depth and comprehensive interviews with persons (internationally) working with the semantic web, linked data and the opening up of government data. Talis is directly involved in semantic web work and working collaboratively with the data.gov.uk initiative. Talis is providing hosting and search services for the Linked Data published through data.gov.uk. In addition, the podcasts Talis resources include the Talis platform, news and magazine

The London Datastore web portal, developed by the Greater London Authority (GLA), is committed to providing access to the data that the GLA and other public sector organisations hold, and for all Londoners to see and use free of charge however they see fit.

The London Datastore is working with the UK televisions Channel 4 campaign Innovation for the Public (4iP) who have created a Developers’ Fund to encourage the masses of technical talent available in London to transform raw data into Facebook apps, websites or mobile products which people can actually find useful.

Follow the London Datastore on Twitter or Google Groups

Mysociety.org is a charitable project building websites that give people simple, tangible benefits in the civic and community aspects of their lives. It is also works to teach the public and voluntary sectors, by demonstration, how to use the internet to most efficiently to improve their lives. MySociety runs most of the best-known democracy and transparency websites in the UK, sites like TheyWorkForYou and WriteToThem (which way back in the dawn of time was called FaxYourMP). MySociety builds websites of a democratic bent for other people, such as the No 10 Downing Street Petitions Website, for the Prime Minister’s Office.

eaves.ca is the website of David Eaves, who is a social media expert and a key proponent behind the Open Vancouver data motion. David advises the Vancouver Mayor on open government and works with two spin-offs of the Harvard Negotiation Project and serves as a fellow at the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen's University. In addition to his writing and advocacy, David serves on the International Reference Group of Australia’s Web 2.0 Taskforce and other initiatives. David Eaves has published the ‘Three Laws of Open Government’ (international edition). The website includes blog postings on current issues related opening up government data in North America and elsewhere. Follow David Eaves on Twitter

A website maintained by the Australian government providing free access to information of Australian official statistics, statistical indicators and public access datasets. These cover all areas of Australian political, economic and social policy. They include maps, electoral boundaries, national and regional statistical datasets and popilation files. An online catalogue can be searched or browsed.

The Government 2.0 Taskforces site, Mashup Australia, ran a competition during October and November 2009 to help show why open access to Australian government information is good for the economy and society. To help competitors some datasets were released under a Creative Commons licence (or a similar type of open licence) in a range of mashable formats.

The winning entry mashups are published on the website.

Linkeddata.org is a comprehensive site that provides a home for, or pointers to, resources from across the Linked Data community. The site is administered by Tom Heath on behalf of the Linked Data community. The site describes linked data as in the following excerpt.

“Linked Data is about using the Web to connect related data that was not previously linked, or using the Web to lower the barriers to linking data currently linked using other methods. More specifically, Wikipedia defines Linked Data as "a term used to describe a recommended best practice for exposing, sharing, and connecting pieces of data , information , and knowledge on the Semantic Web using URIs and RDF ." Information on the site includes: Guides and Tutorials, Frequently Asked Questions, Glossary, Images and Posters, Presentations, Data Sets, Tools, Events, Call for Papers, Research, News and Blogs, Domains, and Links to Additional Resources.

The OpenData Network is a new initiative to promote open data in Germany. The Network is an active part of German and European civil society. It is a non-profit civil society NGO. The aim is to help promote open data, open access, open government, transparency, participation and collaboration. The focus is on promoting, researching and supporting the development of new methods and tools for data liberation, data visualisation, participation and collaboration. (twitter/opendatablog)

Josema.net is the personal website published by Jose M. Alonso. It is an informative and innovative site designed for sharing current information (utilising active web communication channels) about the web developments and access to and opening up public data for re-use from Spain and throughout Europe. Jose M. Alonso is the eGoverment Lead at W3C and Web Standards Senior Advisor at Fundación CTIC.

Opengov.se is a registry of open government data in Sweden. It is a personal project managed by a private citizen - Peter Krantz. It is not a government initiative or sponsored project. It works to gather together in one place and make accessible to researchers public datasets from the Swedish government. It contains links to datasets by departments, with some notes on their access and usage. There is also a government tracking section which gathers together news about new government committees. It makes a note of what percentage of the datasets are fully open - i.e. material that is free for anyone to re-use and re-distribute without restriction, and that is in an open format.

The Pic and Mix website is a pilot initiative (September 2009) by Kent County Council (UK) to make its public data freely accessible online. When possible, the data is provided in formats that allow it to be mashed and customised. Examples of innovative data use are already featured on the site and the development of mash ups continues (see Data Uses web page).

Open Data @ CTIC is the Blog and information site of the Fundación CTIC . The site publishes comprehensive, current and stimulating discussions and information about pubic data access and re-uses topics. Content is organised by: general overarching issues, strategic discussions and technical developments. Open Data @ CTIC has published a list of Public Sector Data Catalogues. The list is extensive with 20 links to public data catalogues. This is a list which will continue to grow. It includes datasets made public by international organisations such as the World Bank and the United Nations. The datasets are from countries across continents including Europe at national and municipal levels.

• Catálogos de Datasets del Sector Público ( in Spanish )
• Public Sector Datasets Catalogue ( in English )

The DataViz site is an initiative by the Department of Local Communities and Government (DCLG, UK). It is all about improving data visualisation for the public sector and carries a number of examples and case studies of representations of data from government. Web pages cover: Examples (Gallery and Visual Types); Case Studies and Guides; What is Good Visualisation?; Practical Steps to Improve Visualisation; Step by Step Guide; and Reference Links and Help.

The Openly Local web project initiative (based in the Untied Kingdom) aims to develop an open and unified way of accessing local government information. It offers access to wide range of data form local governments. The aim is make data available in structured formats so that it can be re-use by mashups, data feeds and for comparative analysis. Openly Local is not affiliated with, supporter of or linked in any way with any political organization

Opengovt.org.nz is an open, independent catalogue of Government and Local Body datasets. It is an attempt to collate the many different datasets available through the New Zealand Government Departments and Local Bodies. The work stems from discussions at the Perspectives on Open Data: Workshop on the Re-use of Government-held Non-personal Data which was held during Webstock 2009. The aims of the site are to:

• List all of the datasets available to members of the public.
• Provide a place for people to comment on the datasets (what’s good about them, bad, uses they have.)
• Make it easy for people to find the information they are after and who they need to contact.
• Provide a voice for the data using community, both professional and casual.

The mission of the eGovernment Interest Group (eGov IG) is to explore how to improve access to government through better use of the Web and achieve better government transparency using open Web standards at any government level (local, state, national and multi-national). The eGov IG is designed as a forum to support researchers, developers, solution providers, and users of government services that use the Web as the delivery channel, and enable broader collaboration across eGov practitioners.

The Danish Digitalisér.dk site a comprehensive site focused on social networks and tools for developing and sharing discussion about digital activities

• It is both a formal central repository of information on data interchange standards and a big open digital playground - a creative space for everyone involved in digitising the public sector. Digitalisér.dk aims to stimulate development and adoption of digital content and business models by utilising Web 2.0 technologies and public data and digital resources.
• With digitaliser.dk, the Danish government has created a new model of partnership between the tech community and government which paves the way for more direct communication between the public sector, citizens, and businesses. Citizens and businesses are no longer passive recipients of public information but participate in dialogue and knowledge sharing with the public sector.
• Digitalisér.dk is established and maintained by the Danish National IT and Telecom Agency.