Public open data is becoming a first priority for governments around Europe and the US. OKFN Greece has developed and now hosts the Greek open data hub. The data hub integrates OKFN’s open source data cataloging software, CKAN which is also the basis of the UK, the European and the US portals.
The Greek open data hub follows the new EU Open Data Directive and the standards set by the EU Open Data Portal. “It is about transparency, open government and innovation. The published data can be downloaded by everyone interested to facilitate, reuse, link and create innovative services. Moreover, this Data Hub promotes and builds literacy around Greek data. The data publishers, application developers and the general public can also use new functionalities enabled by the semantic technologies.” Source: EU Open Data Portal
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Open datasets can be used in smart city services, financial monitoring, decision support systems and a handful other applications. The problem is that you don’t really know what is available and where to get it from. Let’s say you, as a software developer, want to make a shiny new smartphone app. You might need a combination of geospatial data, some cultural facts and a photo collection. You know this data does exist, but you also aware that you are going to have a hard time finding their provider, discovering their outgoing links and their license. Well, this is not always the case, but when it happens, you will be obliged to invest significant time.
Now think of ordinary citizens. They need to find the nearest governmental point of service for job postings. They also need the bus transport information on how to get there. Although the data exist, the citizens are obliged to search and combine the data themselves, investing also precious time
This is the need for data hubs which offer the data publishers a global effective way to use, promote, advertise their datasets. Citizens will also catalog a dataset if it is useful to them and maybe to others. By the time the datasets reach a critical level, links between them are discovered and developed, multiplying the value of the datasets and leveraging dynamically their significance. DBpedia is already a great example of a broadly linked dataset. Combine this with live data preview, a smart search system and a powerful API and you have taken open data to the next level.
The Greek Open Data Hub features applications and visualizations, using open datasets, like Openspending, police funding related to criminality and Day Like Today. You will also find a visual network representation of the Greek Linked Open Data Cloud – OKFN Greece is constantly working on making this one huge!
The Greek open data hub includes:
1. The Open Data repository (http://ckan.okfn.gr). This section of the site is built using the CKAN platform (like the EU & UK sites).
2. Applications using Greek linked open data, like Greek DBpedia (DayLikeToday, DBpedia game) and visualizations with data from the Clarity Program, the municipalities etc
3. A live demo where anybody will be able to submit a SPARQL query and chart its results with Google Chart Editor.
4. Information about the Greek Linked Open Data cloud,
Now, it’s your turn:
Do you own a dataset you ‘ve never thought of publishing? – Grab the open data handbook and start giving your data their social value.
Do you work for the government or any organization that already provides public open data?- Catalog your data at the Greek Open Data Hub and begin discovering links with the other datasets.
Do you want to develop an app involving a lot of data? – You might find it in Greek Open Data Hub together with other related datasets
Would you like to have a look at your local government’s budget? – Look for it in the Greek Open Data Hub, or demand that they are cataloged.
OKFN Greece is proud to offer the data hub to the Greek government and citizens!.
