Office of Public Sector Information

Posted by: Michael Bimmler

Public Sector Information Holder: Cabinet Office

Information Asset: Civil Service Yearbook

The problem

At the moment, the Civil Service Year Book's online edition (http://www.civil-service.co.uk) is only accessible via a costly subscription.

My ideal solution

The Civil Service Year Book's online edition should be open and accessible to everyone. Compare eg.:

http://europa.eu/whoiswho/ (European Union Who is who)
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gmanual/index.html (United States Government Manual)
http://www.staatskalender.admin.ch/ "Staatskalender / Annuaire fédéral / Annuario federale" of the Swiss government.

These three publications are very much similar to the Civil Service Year Book and have been completely "unlocked" by their respective governmental editors.

What I would do

Various uses are possible if the information is unlocked -- if "spam" or other "direct mailing / harassment" issues are a concern, then I refer to the three examples above.

Posted by: Alex Lord

Public Sector Information Holder: DEFRA

Information Asset: Bluetongue Clinical Signs Images

The problem

I am a 3rd year veterinary student who is doing a pathology wiki project on bluetongue and to impreove my project i need images of pathology of bluetongue and the clinical signs images of bluetongue would be ideal however they are covered by crown copyright and i understqand replicating these pictures needs to be done with your permission.

My ideal solution

For Crown copyright to give me permission to copy and paste the pictures from the defra website on bluetongue clinical signs.

What I would do

I would transfer the images to a wiki project which is on the royal dick vet electronic server. The images would back up my project well.

Posted by: Anna Powell

Public Sector Information Holder: Ofcom

Information Asset: Sitefinder - mobile phone mast locations in the UK

The problem

Ofcom currently allow the public to search for mobile phone masts online (http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/). However, it's only possible to search for a single postcode at a time, and the results are only displayed on a map - not given in reusable format.

In September 2006, the Information Commissioner ordered Ofcom to publish the Sitefinder dataset in a reusable format (http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/pressreleases/2006/ic_rules_against_ofcom_on_mobile_phone_base_stations_13090%E2%80%A6.pdf). Ofcom appealed to the Information Tribunal, which in September 2007 upheld the Information Commissioner's decision. In April 2008, Ofcom appealed to the High Court, which dismissed Ofcom's appeal. Ofcom is now taking measures to appeal further.

A recent Freedom of Information request to release the dataset was rejected by Ofcom (http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/map_coordinates_for_all_mobile_p) on the grounds that it would help criminals and infringe the mobile operators' intellectual property rights - both reasons rejected by the Information Commissioner in the original review.

In the US, mobile phone mast locations are freely available in database form, and various useful applications have been built.

My ideal solution

I would like Ofcom to release the locations of mobile phone base stations in the UK in reusable form with latitude/longitude info.

What I would do

Use the locations to build a mobile phone mast locator, for use on mobile phones in areas where reception is poor or non-existent.

If you are on a mountainside in poor weather, and need to call the emergency services - or just staying in a house with poor reception - it would be very useful to know that walking 50 yards north would improve your reception.