Government to make data available through single portal

Berners-Lee is helping the government put data online

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is helping the government develop a "single point of contact" for putting state data online, the minister for Digital Britain Stephen Timms said in a speech this week.

Gordon Brown brought Berners-Lee - the man often dubbed the inventor of the internet - into the government to help put state-held information online for access by businesses and citizens.

This might include information on crime, health education and other statistics.

Timms said on Monday: "We are supporting Sir Tim in a major new project that will create a single online point of contact for government data."

Charities such as MySociety have long campaigned for such a move, saying it would create huge potential for innovation from the private and voluntary sector.

And in 2007 the government-commissioned Power of Information review concluded that the economic benefits could be huge.

MySociety has already provided examples of how state data can be "mashed" to allow people to find out how their MP has voted on different issues without too much effort, or report street issues such as potholes and fly tipping to the council easily.

Last month the Cabinet Office invited developers to show government how they think state information should be ordered and presented online.

In its first phase, the Cabinet Office is looking to put 1,000 different data sets from seven departments online.

Timms added: "We want this project for 'Making Public Data Public' to put UK businesses and other organisations at the forefront of new web services, and to be a platform for developing new technologies.”

Berners-Lee will also be looking to the wider public sector to provide other data sets for online use. Developers have long called for Ordnance Survey data be made free and accessible on the web.