Office of Public Sector Information

Posted by: Feargal Hogan

Public Sector Information Holder: Ministry of Justice

Information Asset: Freedom of Information Act 2000: Statistics on implementation in central government

The problem

MoJ publishes quarterly reports on the handling of FoI requests across government. But it only does so in PDF format. I would like to have this information (or at least the source data) available in a more accessible and usable format.

At least one government dept has used the MoJ PDF as an excuse not to publish its own data. http://is.gd/vy4X

My ideal solution

One possibility might be a straight excel tabulation.

A slightly better solution would be for each organisation or department to publish regular updates of their own stats as RSS feeds and for MoJ to combine those feeds quarterly into the PDF publication.

What I would do

Depending on the formats provided, I might use it to analyse performance at my pet departments. Or it might be used by someone like whatdotheyknow.com to provide more information about government.

Posted by: Open Knowledge Conference 2009

Public Sector Information Holder: Department for International Development

Information Asset: UK Government Aid Information

The problem

There are a number of projects like AidInfo which aim to make international development aid more effective by introducing greater transparency into aid information. The Department for International Development publish lots of statistics and case studies on their website but not the raw data. For initiatives like AidInfo to work better, the UK government should publish all of its raw data aid information in an easy to re-use XML format on the web.

My ideal solution

DFID should publish the raw data about its funding schemes - i.e. exactly who gets what, for doing what.

What I would do

The information can be used to improve services like AidInfo and help make international aid more effective at improving people's lives.

Posted by: Justin Kerr-Stevens, www.extendedreach.wordpress.com

Public Sector Information Holder: COI News Distribution Service

Information Asset: All Government News Releases

The problem

There are only selective, if any, news releases enabled with RSS/ATOM feeds on COI's News Distribution Service.

My ideal solution

Flick the switch and let the public subscribe via RSS/ATOM.

What I would do

More of this: www.twitter.com/hmgov

Posted by: Ave Wrigley

Public Sector Information Holder: Department for Children, Schools and Families

Information Asset: School Performance Tables

The problem

The DCSF school performance tables are available on the DCSF website (http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/performancetables/) but not in a format that is easily usable.

My ideal solution

I would like to access this data in a more convenient format (preferably XML, or through a REST API). I would also like to link this data with other information sources about schools (e.g. Ofsted reports) so it is important to have a universal system of school identifiers (currently DCSF and Ofsted appear to use independent systems).

What I would do

I would use it in my google maps schools mashup (http://www.schoolmap.org.uk/) to help people to access information about local schools more conveniently.