For immediate release
September 5, 2013
Toronto – The Honourable Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board, today highlighted opportunities to spur innovation and growth using Open Data during a unique armchair discussion with Mark Barrenechea, President and CEO of Canadian tech success, OpenText, and Waterloo tech entrepreneurs.
The Government of Canada's recently launched next generation Open Data Portal, data.gc.ca, is a gateway to a rich trove of government data that can be downloaded free of charge by citizens, researchers, voluntary organizations, and the private sector. The enhanced portal, which includes new targeted search capabilities and Web 2.0 features, houses popular datasets ranging from residency wait times and air quality to energy use.
A number of Government-sponsored applications using federal data have already been developed, including Health Canada's drug recall app and a border wait time application developed by the Canada Border Services Agency.
Canada recently endorsed an Open Data Charter at the G8 Summit that aims to increase government data availability and ensure all data released is easy to use, comparable, and interoperable with other datasets. The Charter commits Canada to implement five foundational Open Data principles and international best practices by the end of 2015.
"With increased access to government data repositories, developers will be able to create applications, advance the digital economy and expand the boundaries of the possible," said OpenText CEO Mark J. Barrenechea. "OpenText, as Canada's largest software company, is committed to advancing these important Canadian initiatives."
An online consultation on Canada's progress on its Action Plan on Open Government is currently underway and remains open until Monday, September 9, 2013, on data.gc.ca. The results of this consultation will help develop the Government of Canada's report on Year 1 commitments as part of its membership in the Open Government Partnership. This includes commitments to Open Data, Open Information, and Open Dialogue.
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