This document summarizes the LinkedGov project, which aims to tidy up and link together data from various government departments and agencies in the UK. It discusses crowdsourcing efforts to clarify codes and formats in raw data, standardizing headings and assigning identifiers to data elements. The project also seeks to engage with government workers and the public to gather input on how the data can be most useful. It calls for volunteers to help with various technical and outreach aspects of building the LinkedGov open data platform.

1. LINKEDGOV
The tidying-government-data project
Hadley Beeman
@LinkedGov Hadley@LinkedGov.org
@hadleybeeman
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2. HOW DOES THIS SOUND?
Data from government
Government departments Local authorities
Quangos ata
t d ata a
or g d at a
nsp in l d at
ra end ica e d ata
T p r
S me anc nt d
u
N form eme
Tidie er nag
P a
Decr d M
Hum ypte
Mach an-re d
ine-r adable XML CSV RDF web search
eada
ble
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3. WHAT IS IN OUR WAY?
Codes and acronyms
Holes in the data
Multiple formats
Lack of modelling & connections
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sybrenstuvel/2468506922
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4. LINKEDGOV:
THE PROJECT
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5. CROWDSOURCING
Decrypting budget codes and acronyms
Adding labels and annotations
A game!
Hi! You work at the Department for Transport?
Can you tell us what
072529-1092
means in the dataset
Budget forecasts Q3 2010-11 DfT
Programme to improve transport in the South East
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6. FORMATTING &
LINKING DATA
Connecting datasets
Standardising headings
Assigning URIs
Reformatting the data
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7. ENGAGING
GOVERNMENT
What would you like to know?
How many government employees work in Victoria St, SW1?
Result:
201,570
Data sources:
Westminster City Council Venues Reliability score:
BIS employee distribution 8
DTI site census
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8. HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Building LinkedGov: Keeping LinkedGov running:
Systems architects Help us tidy & connect data
Front end developers
Share the wealth: tidy your data here
Data standards enthusiasts
Spread the word
UX designers
Gamers
Data structure experts
http://xkcd.com/552/
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9. JOIN US!
We need your ideas! Send an email with your
thoughts to:
JoinUs@LinkedGov.org
Please let us know you’re interested by Mon 20 Sept.
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