After months of planning, the UK government have today launched their Data.gov.uk website, making reams of non-personal information available to developers in order to help create apps.
3,000 data sets have been made available, ranging from broad topics such as agricultural stats, right down to as specific a subject as "Suicide and Open Verdict Deaths in the U.K. Regular Armed Forces".
Spearheaded by web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, apps already developed during the beta stage include Planning Alerts, telling users if someone plans to build nearby their house, and Fill That Hole, informing users of pot holes and other road hazards across the UK.
"We're very aware that there are more people like you outside of government who have the skills and abilities to make wonderful things out of public data", a message on the site reads. "These are our first steps in building a collaborative relationship with you."
If used wisely (and not abused by those looking to further veil phishing scams) then the data could have some great apps made with it. For instance, an app to quickly find an NHS dentist when a sudden toothache kicks in, or to track Ofsted reports on local schools when moving house.
Maybe even an app that tracks cabinet members personal expenses! ...What? It's been done already? Oh...
Any more ideas, Tech Digest readers? Tweet them here, or leave a comment below.
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As more and more sites start to take advantage of the technology powering data.gov.uk, it is vital that all of them can share their content with each other. By providing consistent, stable and described identifiers for the real-world things that the data is about, all of these disparate websites can link relevant material. Facts, figures and ideas can only be linked properly if everyone knows the right identifiers to use – basically we all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet when talking about something on the internet, be it a company, person, or even an abstract concept.
Well said, such a person should be a good sentence, or the future will be more rampant.