Irish Government Should Emulate Obama's Open Data Strategy

The Irish Government is being called upon to open up all data to citizens and enterprising software developers. By embracing open data principles, open source technology and cloud computing, it is envisaged Ireland could follow in the steps of the U.S. government and European nations like Norway that have embraced open data principles to great success.

According to the CEO of the Irish Internet Association, Joan Mulvihill,  “In an information age, where knowledge is power and where Ireland is the arguably the European HQ of all things digital, why are we not leading the way in open data?” She pointed to the Obama administration in the US, which has enabled citizen developers by opening up data.

From the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) Community Data Health Initiative to Healthcare Cost & Utilization Project (HCUP), the CDC WONDER Databases, and the National Vital Statistics System - throughout the United States, citizens are using their talents to help make data collected by the government actually work for the American people.

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