"We filled the vacancy the next day"
Web inventor to develop public data access point
The government has asked Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the world wide web, to create a single point of access to public information as its data site begins to take shape.
Prime minister Gordon Brown asked Sir Tim, who was knighted for his pioneering work in 2003, to look at access to government data in June in the hope that the access would lead to new technologies and services being developed.
The request comes after Barack Obama's administration launched an open source data site.
Speaking at an RSA/Intellect Technology event, minister for digital Britain Stephen Timms said the government wanted to provide a framework for using data in new ways.
He added that information was the "essential raw material" of a new digital society, as anyone involved in digital media recruitmentwill know.
"Government must play its part by setting a framework for new approaches to using data and 'mashing' data from different sources to provide new services which enhance our lives. In particular, we want government information to be accessible and useful for the widest possible spectrum of people," Mr Timms explained.
Sir Tim has been in the news recently after taking the microblogging site Twitter by storm.
After 'tweeting' his first post at around 08:00 BST on Friday, over 10,000 followers signed up to read Sir Tim's updates within four days.
Prime minister Gordon Brown asked Sir Tim, who was knighted for his pioneering work in 2003, to look at access to government data in June in the hope that the access would lead to new technologies and services being developed.
The request comes after Barack Obama's administration launched an open source data site.
Speaking at an RSA/Intellect Technology event, minister for digital Britain Stephen Timms said the government wanted to provide a framework for using data in new ways.
He added that information was the "essential raw material" of a new digital society, as anyone involved in digital media recruitmentwill know.
"Government must play its part by setting a framework for new approaches to using data and 'mashing' data from different sources to provide new services which enhance our lives. In particular, we want government information to be accessible and useful for the widest possible spectrum of people," Mr Timms explained.
Sir Tim has been in the news recently after taking the microblogging site Twitter by storm.
After 'tweeting' his first post at around 08:00 BST on Friday, over 10,000 followers signed up to read Sir Tim's updates within four days.
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