> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://werd.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Open data at data.gov.uk
- URL: https://werd.io/open-data-at-data-gov-uk/
- Published: 2010-01-21T11:01:22.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-12T11:00:52.000Z
- Author: Ben Werdmuller
- Tags: Politics, #ben-684a32da145d7d001be71dae, Software development, Web, government, open data, openness, transparency, #Migrated-1749693130536, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-06-11 21:52

[The British equivalent](http://data.gov.uk/) to Obama’s [data.gov](http://data.gov) opened today. Over at ReadWriteWeb, Marshall Kirkpatrick points out [the scale of the ambition involved](http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/uk%5Flaunches%5Fopen%5Fdata%5Fsite%5Fputs%5Fdatagov%5Fto%5Fshame.php):

> At launch, Data.gov.uk has nearly 3,000 data sets available for developers to build mashups with. The U.S. site, Data.gov, has less than 1,000 data sets today.   
>  
> \[…\]\[Unlike the US equivalent, the site\] includes 22 military data sets at launch, including one called [Suicide and Open Verdict Deaths in the U.K. Regular Armed Forces](http://data.gov.uk/dataset/suicide%5Fand%5Fopen%5Fverdict%5Fdeaths%5Fin%5Fthe%5Fuk%5Fregular%5Farmed%5Fforces).

However, these are raw datasets. As [Paul Clarke points out](http://paulclarke.com/honestlyreal/2010/01/welcoming-data-gov-uk/), the site only pays lip service to openness until someone comes along and turns these sets into useful reports and applications:

> The only test of real success is: **use**. Not *usefulness*. Not theoretical use. Real use. Getting beyond the novelty application, the demonstrator, and the hobby lies at the heart of really untapping the potential of data.gov.uk.

Indeed, [the figures that Techcrunch Europe report](http://eu.techcrunch.com/2010/01/21/uk-government-sets-its-data-free-for-the-peoples-apps/) suggest that turning this data into something useful may be harder than it sounds:

> So far over 2,400 developers have registered to test the site and provide feedback, \[while\] 10 applications have been created.

I left a comment on Paul Clarke’s post [pointing out some potential pitfalls](http://paulclarke.com/honestlyreal/2010/01/welcoming-data-gov-uk/comment-page-1/#comment-234) that may inhibit innovation, including the government’s insistence on licensing the data under Crown Copyright and their impartiality regarding Twitter. There’s also been some criticism around the lack of a common data format for each feed (although the RDF triple proudly displayed on the front page suggests this is likely to change).

Nonetheless, I believe this represents a huge step forward. Turning raw materials into useful, compelling applications that improve the users’ quality of life requires a huge amount of creativity and talent, and providing the data feeds in the first place is a crucial first step.

[You can list all the available datasets here.](http://data.gov.uk/data/all)