From Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform
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Ossian Smyth, Minister of State with responsibility for Public Procurement and eGovernment, today (16th July, 2020) announced details of the 2020/2021 competitive Open Data Engagement Fund. This fund is designed to raise awareness of Open Data and to promote the reuse of open data on the national Open Data portal https://data.gov.ie/ . The portal is a repository of open government datasets and currently links to over 10,000 public service datasets in open format.
Promoting usage of data on the Open Data Portal is a key theme in the national Open Data Strategy 2017-2022. The Open Data Engagement Fund is designed to promote awareness and provide support towards improving the usage of public sector data on the Portal https://Data.Gov.ie . It is a competitive fund which encourages applications from any organisation or individual including public bodies, SMEs, students and academia.
This year, particular consideration will be given to projects that use Open Data to address the issue of Covid-19.
The Open Data Engagement Fund (totalling up to €30,000) has been developed in conjunction with the Open Data Governance Board (ODGB) which provides leadership in implementing Ireland's Open Data Initiative and this is the fourth year in which the fund has been made available. Promoting reuse of the data on the open data portal is a key theme in the national National Open Data Strategy 2017-2022 .
Opening up government data provides new opportunities for research, innovation, engagement and greater efficiency for all sectors of the economy.
The call for applications is open until Friday, 9th October and applications can be made for funding to support a variety of Open Data related activities. These include the organisation of outreach and engagement activities, for example, seminars, competitions and hackathons; the building of applications and development of visualisations to demonstrate the use that can be made of open data; or specific research on open government datasets with a view to arriving at outcomes that help create efficiencies in the public service or assist in government decision making as well as research to measure the benefits and impact of Ireland’s Open Data Initiative to date.
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
Applications can be made by any organisation or individual (in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). This includes inter alia a public body, business, research body, university, school, college, civil society group.
A minimum funding allocation of €200 and maximum of €5000 will apply.
Applications must demonstrate real benefits / impact and set out how these would be measured.
Details of the fund are available here . The application form can be downloaded here or an application can be made online via the open data portal, data.gov.ie .