Launch of the Open Data Engagement Fund 2017/2018

Patrick O’Donovan TD Minister of State for Public Procurement, Open Government and eGovernment at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Finance, today (03 October 2017) announced details of the 2017/2018 Open Data Engagement Fund.

The Open Data Engagement Fund (a fund of €30,000), has been developed in conjunction with the Open Data Governance Board (ODGB), which was established in 2015 to provide leadership in implementing Ireland’s Open Data Initiative.

This is a competitive fund designed to provide support towards promoting the use of open data on the national Open Data portal https://data.gov.ie/. The portal currently links to some 5,400 public service datasets in open format.

Applications can be made for funding to support a variety of Open Data-related activities. These include the organisation of outreach and engagement activities, for example, seminars, competitions and hackathons, the building of applications and development of visualisations to demonstrate the use that can be made of open data, or specific research on open government datasets, with a view to arriving at outcomes that help create efficiencies in the public service or assist in government decision-making.

In welcoming the announcement, Minister of State O’Donovan said:

Details of the fund are available here. The application form is available below.

ENDS

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. The concept of Open Data is about making data held by public bodies available and easily accessible online for reuse and redistribution.

This initiative is closely aligned with the Public Service Reform Programme, the eGovernment Strategy, the Civil Service Renewal Plan and the proposed National Data Infrastructure. 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).

Since the onset of the Open Data initiative in 2014 significant progress has been made. The national portal data.gov.ie is in place and currently links to some 5,400 government datasets in open format from some 100 publishers.

Now that there are a significant number of datasets available for reuse, and as set out in the national Open Data Strategy 2017-2022, the Open Data Governance Board is concentrating on promoting the use of the data, and the competitive Open Data Engagement fund is an innovative way to achieve this.

This is the second year of the fund, and it is designed to provide support for improving the availability and usage of data on the national open data portal data.gov.ie

Applications can be made by any organisation or individual. This includes, inter alia, a public body, business, research body, educational body, and 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 showcase for promotion of the open data initiative or other promotional activity as determined by the Open Data Governance Board.