Open data in Canada
Open Government in Canada describes the capacity for the Canadian Government to provide online access to internal data in a standards-compliant 'Web 2.0' way.
Government 2.0 is an attempt to provide more effective processes for government service delivery to individuals and businesses. Integration of tools such as wikis, development of government-specific social networking sites and the use of blogs, RSS feeds and Google Maps are all helping governments provide information to people in a manner that is more immediately useful to the people concerned.[1]
A number of efforts have been made to expose data gathered by Canadian governments of all levels in ways that make it available for mashups. A collection of uses of social media in Canadian government can be found here.
Public information in Canada is the subject of the Access to Information Act. VisibleGovernment.ca is a Canadian non-profit that promotes online tools for government transparency.
There have been several ChangeCamps in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, with organizers coming together in Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, drawing many politicians.
Toronto
The city of Toronto mayor David Miller announced plans for an open city data portal at toronto.ca/open.
See also
- E-democracy
- e-Government
- e-participation
- Open politics
- Open source governance
- Data.gov- An American initiative