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The Government launched an 18-month pilot scheme today (March 31) to make available geo-referenced public facilities data and real-time traffic data for free download and value-added re-use by the public. The relevant data are provided via a portal, entitled Data.One (www.gov.hk/Data.One).
The geo-referenced public facilities data include names, addresses and co-ordinates, etc. of public facilities such as government offices, hospitals, schools, country parks as well as recreational, cultural and sports venues. Real-time traffic data of the main roads include the average traffic speeds of the main roads in Hong Kong, average cross-harbour journey time between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, the latest special traffic news and snapshot images of real-time traffic situation. While such information is already available for browsing on the Internet, Data﷿One makes it easier for the public to download the data for value-added re-use.
"We believe that public sector information is not only a valuable source of reference, but may also generate valuable applications. Facilitating value-added re-use of public sector information will be conducive to the development of Hong Kong as a knowledge-based economy. The data provided on Data﷿One are all downloadable and some are even in the XML format for convenient data transfer and processing by computers. Users will also be assisted by the portal's guidance on downloading. The downloaded data can be used for academic researches or developing various innovative services or applications, such as mobile applications showing the road traffic situation", a spokesman for the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer said.
"Geo-referenced public facilities data and real-time traffic data of main roads have been chosen for the pilot scheme because they are closely related to people's daily lives, and thus have a higher re-use value. The Government will review the effectiveness of the pilot scheme, and consider the overall policy for disseminating public sector information for value-added re-use", the spokesman added.
Ends/Thursday, March 31, 2011
Issued at HKT 19:09
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