Government makes its data more accessible

The government has open sourced some of its own custom-built software in a move designed to boost transparency and make it easier for developers to create applications that access its backend systems.

In a statement on its data.gov.uk site, the government said it has released a CKAN module for the Drupal content management system (CMS), explaining that it was freely available for anyone to "review, use or modify". It expects that developers and other governments will use its technology in their own applications.

The developer package, which is available for download now as a tar.gz file, is designed to allow content to be synched between CKAN and the government CMS.

“This code release allows content to be synched from CKAN into Drupal," the data.gov.uk statement read.

"CKAN is the system we use as our 'back end' to store information about all the data government has released. Drupal is a system to publish web content, and serves as our 'front end' which people can use to find our datasets and comment on them.”

Supporting information, such as tips on using the code, is included in the file.

Meanwhile, in another move to ease access to its data, the government has refreshed the data.gov.uk site.

The new look is intended to make the site easier to navigate and use, with many of the changes stemming from community feedback.

“In particular you may notice some changes on the homepage allowing us to highlight new or featured datasets straight to you,” said the development team in its blog.

“This will ensure that newly released datasets of interest can be promoted on the home page for easy access straight to the raw data you are looking for. It is now easier to find datasets quickly through browsing popular categories.

There are over 3,700 datasets now available which are being added to all the time, according to the team.

New features include the ability to use RSS feeds to keep on top of relevant subjects and a number of search updates designed to weed out irrelevant topics.