merrion street

Minister of State at the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure & Reform, with special responsibility for Financial Services, eGovernment and Public Procurement, Eoghan Murphy, TD, today (Wednesday, 5th October) announced details of a competitive Open Data Engagement Fund.
The Engagement Fund has been developed in conjunction with the Open Data Governance Board (ODGB), which has been established to provide strategic leadership and governance in line with best international practice in the area of Open Data. The fund is designed to provide support towards improving the availability and usage of data on the data.gov.ie portal by supporting the organisation of Open Data events and seminars, and sponsoring competitions, hackathons and the development of apps.
Welcoming the announcement, Minister Murphy said: ‘Open Data is a key part of the Public Service’s reform activities. The vision for the Open Data initiative is to create an environment where the economic, social and democratic benefits of Open Data are recognised and realised. Open Data has a clear potential to empower citizens, change how government works, and improve the delivery of public services; as well as to unlock significant economic value through the development of new products and services. I welcome today’s announcement and l hope that it will encourage schools, businesses and individuals to engage in the Open Data initiative’.
ENDS
Note for Editors

The challenge of building more open, transparent and accountable public governance in Ireland is a key objective in the Irish Public Service; and progress is being achieved through a range of reform initiatives.

The Open Data Initiative is a key part of these reform activities. It is closely aligned with the Public Service Reform Plan, the ICT Strategy, and the Civil Service Renewal Plan. Internationally, it is a core element of the EU-wide approach to the “Re-Use of Public Sector Information”, which has been transposed by Ireland. It is also central to Ireland’s participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP).
The concept of Open Data is about making data held by public bodies available and easily accessible online for reuse and redistribution. The aim is to create an environment where, by opening up Government data, new opportunities for research, innovation and transparency are delivered by public bodies, businesses, researchers and citizens.
Since the onset of the Open Data initiative in 2014, significant progress has been made in promoting the use of Open Data. A national portal (data.gov.ie) is in place and currently links to some 4,500 datasets from 90 publishers. Now that there are a significant number of datasets available for reuse, the Open Data Governance Board is concentrating on promoting the usage of the data and the launch of a competitive Open Data engagement fund is an innovative way to achieve this. The fund is designed to provide support towards improving the availability and usage of data on the data.gov.ie portal by supporting the organisation of events/seminars, sponsoring competitions, hackathons, and the development of apps, amongst other things.
Applications can be made by any organisation or individual. This includes, inter alia, a public body, business, research body, educational body, civil society group.

Successful applicants will report on their activity – for example, via a blog post – and, where applicable, will be required to have their project developed into a use case for promotion of the open data initiative or other promotional activity as determined by the ODGB.