Government outlines Data Corporation plans

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude and business minister Edward Davey said the move, planned for this year, would provide an unprecedented level of easily accessible public information and help to make public services more efficient. The project is aimed at opening up opportunities for developers, businesses and members of the public to generate social and economic growth through the use of data. In developing the corporation the government will consider if data held by public bodies can be used in an innovative or entrepreneurial way and whether it could then be made available to the public. Maude said that the corporation will bring benefits in three areas: "Firstly and most importantly it will allow us to make data freely available, and where charging for data is appropriate to do so on a consistent basis. It will be a centre where developers, businesses and members of the public can access data and use it to develop internet applications, inform their business decisions or identify ways to run public services more efficiently. "Secondly, it will be a centre of excellence where expertise in collecting, managing, storing and distributing data can be brought together. This will enable substantial operational synergies. Thirdly, it can be a vehicle which will attract private investment." Davey added that the creation of the corporation was vital as "our public sector does not always share its data, skills and capabilities to benefit government and businesses as well as it could". He added: "A Public Data Corporation is a global first and will help make this information much easier to access and understand."|