UK opens up data on public services

Today, I cannot but be a fan of David Cameron, the British Prime Minister! Cameron himself called today's announcement "a land mark event in the life of this and all future governments". Today Cameron instructed his cabinet to release data about public services in Britain: schools, general practitioners practices, hospitals, courts, prisons, the transport system, etc.!

Watch his speech on YouTube about why the British government is committed to transparency and what more open data means for British citizens! Once data about public services is open, Cameron explained, people will be able to make informed choices on which services to use. They will be able to compare schools according to criteria such as exam results and truancy rates. They will be able to compare doctors with regard to customer service and health outcomes of their patients.

Public service providers themselves will be able to use the data to learn from each other and to improve their performance. Citizens will be able to see crime maps of their locality and actually follow up on whether anybody was convicted for the mapped crimes. All this will raise the standard of public services. In addition, Cameron points out, open data will drive economic growth.

It is heart-warming to see political leadership in the area of open data and transparency. If Britain can do it, why not Germany? Ms Merkel, I think that would be really cool. I promise I'd be your fan straight away!