Combined Online Information System
The Combined Online Information System or COINS database is one of the biggest datasets in government. COINS uses a database called Camelot. The system is supplied by Descisys. COINS replaced three separate systems previously used by the British Government, Public Expenditure System (PES), Government Online Data System (GOLD) and General Expenditure Monitoring System (GEMS). The Treasury turned down requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for data contained in COINS prior to the 2010 General Election. After promises during the election campaign to publish the database if elected, the Cameron–Clegg coalition government made available all 120 GB of COINS data in a raw format as of 4 June 2010. The hope is that this will spur third party organisations to find innovative ways to present this information to the public.
Disclosure
Data from the COINS database is used to prepare the National Accounts.