Public data, £20k competition

“What would you create with public information?

Ever been frustrated that you can’t find out something that ought to be easy to find?  Ever been baffled by league tables or ‘performance indicators’?  Do you think that better use of public information could improve health, education, justice or society at large?

The UK Government wants to hear your ideas for new products that could improve the way public information is communicated. The Power of Information Taskforce is running a competition on the Government’s behalf, and we have a £20,000 prize fund to develop the best ideas to the next level.”

Show Us A Better Way

Something to focus your research effort. Go team!

Some neat examples and a handy set of links for mashups, Google maps, Yahoo pipes and so on.

I don’t want to suspend critical judgement about the potential of Web 2.0 to transform institutions, but I have never seen a statement like this on a government website. It says

“Disclaimer: I found these sites useful, but they are not an Official endorsement by the British Government. Have a look at them, make your own mind up and give us feedback in the comments”

This from the Cabinet Office. Encouraging.