Open Data is the Raw Material of the New Industrial Revolution says Govt. Minister

March 19, 2012 By IdeaConnection
Image by watcharakun
Image by watcharakun

The UK is fast becoming an important hub of open innovation, and according to Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude is leading the world in open data.

There are now more than 40,000 unique public sector datasets on www.data.gov.uk – from real-time traffic statistics to information about greenhouse gas emissions.

During a seminar for small and medium-sized businesses hosted by Digital Birmingham the minister said that open data is the raw material of the new industrial revolution.


In the same way that two centuries ago raw materials were used to create products that had never been seen before, so Maude believes that today the use of open data is leading to products and services that had never previously existed.

Maude was speaking at an event to launch an initiative called the Open Innovation Community Hub – an online discussion forum and information resource for open data. It will include case studies and examples of how people are using open data to grow their companies.

Open Data and Innovation

Open data is not just about government transparency, it’s about creating and developing jobs and businesses and improving public services.

Maude added the government’s own open data site will be revamped and relaunched later in the year.

“In the next few months, we will relaunch data.gov.uk – already the largest global resource of its kind – to make it easier to use, so that businesses and entrepreneurs can access free data more readily.”

Global Innovators

He also called on entrepreneurial minds to tap into open data to innovate on a worldwide scale.

And in a further move to support open innovation the UK government is planning to launch a £10m Open Data Institute, headed up by inventor of the Internet Tim Berners-Lee. Its mission will be to help businesses maximise the commercial value of open data.


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