Sir Tim Berners- Lee Opens Web of Government Data

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, will launch the new government website data.gov.uk later today. The site offers free access to a huge amount of public-sector data for private or commercial reuse.

The aim is to encourage British web developers and companies to create websites and information feeds that combine the data with other information such as , maps or other datasets – and potentially to discover hidden patterns that may not obvious from the raw information.

In his Government data manifesto Mr Berners-Lee said: "For the first time we have created a single online place where those looking for government data can go to find it, without having to know which department holds what and where it is.This is an important step in setting the groundwork for further progress. Our ambition is to make the release of data part of the 'business as usual' of public bodies."

He added "Data.gov.uk is not finished. In fact, we hope it never is: there will always be scope to add more data as it is collected. However we have created the platform and the community for moving forward together."

The US government already has a similar site, data.gov, set up by the incoming Obama administration last year and London also launched a "datastore" earlier this month.

The government has previously sponsored a competition, Show Us A Better Way asking for examples of what people would do with public sector information and with a £20,000 prize fund. Among the winners were maps for local recycling, cycle paths, school catchment areas and postbox locations.

The US government already has a similar site, data.gov, set up by the Obama administration last year and officially launched in May by the US's "chief information officer", Vivek Kundra. London also launched a "datastore" earlier this month, hosting a number of London-specific datasets corralled from government departments as well as Transport for London data.

See the site for yourself - please click here

Read Sir Tim Berners-Lee manifesto for Government data here