Irish Internet Association CEO Joan Mulvihill
The Irish Internet Association will next week hold an “Open Data Roundtable for Open Government” at the National Library of Ireland as part of Open Data Week, which will also include a series of events in Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
The week will kick off on Monday with an address by Environment Minister Phil Hogan, TD. ‘Open Data Week’ is the culmination of the collaborative work of industry, Government, education and research bodies.
The OpenData movement in Ireland is rooted in the challenging work of the members of www.opendata.ie and with championing by people such as Dominic Byrne of Fingal County Council, and Tim Willoughby of the LGMA.
Recent estimates suggest datasets residing on public-sector servers across Europe represent a €27bn treasure trove waiting to be unlocked by savvy researchers, programmers and entrepreneurs.
Breaking new territory in open data
“This week is truly ground-breaking territory for Ireland’s open data agenda,” Joan Mulvihill, CEO of the Irish Internet Association, explained.
“Open data provides enormous opportunity for enterprise and Government, as well as great benefits for citizen services and engagement. With the support of Enterprise Ireland, and all the members of the cross-industry open data working group, this week will see the start of an Irish open data journey for engaged citizenship, job creation and service delivery.”
Since the IIA Annual Conference back in May, “OPEN for Business”, the open data movement in Ireland has gathered momentum, garnered significant support and has now attracted an exciting line-up of leading international open data figures.
In town for Ireland’s Open Data Week are Tim Mallalieu, Open Group programme manager from Microsoft Seattle; Emer Coleman of LondonDataStore; Dominique Lazanski, head of Digital Policy for the Tax Payers Alliance; Hadley Beeman, founder of LinkedGov.com and Elizabeth Varley, CEO of TechHub in London.
On the same day and following their successful partnership in the delivery of the 18-Hour Open Data Challenge back in June, the IIA is delighted to be partnering again with the NDRC Inventorium to bring these speakers to wider audience in the afternoon.
“OpenData Enterprise – The Game Is On!” is a free-to-attend workshop at the NDRC on Crane Street, Dublin 8. The workshop will take a creative look at how open data can be commercialised, looking specifically at opportunities for interactive gaming, education and social media.
Many of the morning speakers will be coming along to that, too, as well as a strong cohort of Irish innovators, such as Mary Mulvihill of Ingenious Ireland; Declan Kennedy from Betapond; Gabrielle Stafford of Twelve Horses and Irish artist and Namaland creator Conor McGarrigle. To register, go to the website.
