4 July 2011
As those of us who regularly work with location intelligence tools are only too aware, success relies on 2 important factors:
- The quality and breadth of the functionality available in your chosen GIS software.
- The availability and accuracy of data.
As a vendor, we obviously focus on functionality. But with a growing customer base, we’re also aware of the importance of data.
Without access to data, GIS software would be redundant.
While each business has its own data, specific to its own operations and parameters, there is great value to be gained from data held by governments and local bodies, like demographic data.
With this in mind, we’ve been pleased to observe the momentum gained by the open data initiative – both at home and abroad.
Fingal County Council – a local government body in the greater Dublin area – has led the way in Ireland, releasing 70 datasets in November 2010, with plans to release a further 100 in September 2011.
They’re in good company, joining eminent organisations such as the World Bank, who have also committed themselves to making increasing amounts of data publicly available.
It’s encouraging to see branches of government recognising the value and potential of the data they hold, and their willingness to share it.
Find out more about what Fingal County Council are doing with their open data
