More apps on the way with opening up of government data
New portal offers 3,000 sets of raw government data covering all aspects of its work, up from the two sets initially made public in 2011
Will Kwok Yu-ho co-developed an app that has been a boon to car drivers. His app, Spoken News, shows current conditions on Hong Knog roads and the nearest service station and car park with free spaces.
Spoken News is among 70 internet applications developed using government data since the administration began releasing data for public use in 2011. More such apps will now be hitting app stores with the launch today of a new government portal, data.gov.hk, providing more than 3,000 sets of raw data covering all policy areas.
When the government began providing data for public use, there were only two sets of raw data - images taken by CCTVs installed by the Transport Department all over Hong Kong to show real-time road conditions and the waiting time to use the three cross-harbour tunnels. That’s why Joey Lam Kam-ping, deputy government chief information officer, says the new portal is a big improvement on its previous work.
“Financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah announced the roll-out of data.gov.hk in his recent budget speech. So all government departments have to toe the line and put data onto the platform.”
The government has long been criticised for lacking accountability and transparency by withholding information from the public. But Lam says that’s not the case.
The data is there ready for public release. It is just that some departments don’t know they have such data themselves.
“Hong Kong is a very transparent society. The data is there ready for public release. It is just that some departments don’t know they have such data themselves. Some data is only for internal use and not suitable for public release.