In a conference room in Brussels a group of data fanatics have
spent two days discussing how governments could be encouraged to
make more data available to their citizens, what technologies
might be appropriate for the purpose and what uses the data
might serve to those citizens when they get it. These are
important questions to answer because it is widely accepted that
making good quality public data available can reduce corruption,
and contribute to a greater level of accountability and
transparency in policy making. Amongst the sixty or so attendees
at the event organised by Phil Archer (from the W3C) were Franco
Accordino, (Head of the European Commission's Task Force Digital
Futures), Andrew Stott, (Public Sector Transparency Board,
former UK Government Director of Transparency & Digital
Engagement) and numerous academics and experts in The vision,
which largely united rather than divided those at the event is
one of a world where people have better, quicker, more efficient
access to government informati