Innovation hints at a free data model to savour

A local government initiative shows how vital information can be made readily available to those who need it If you're in Lichfield and see a fashionably dishevelled young man wandering round municipal buildings taking notes on his iPhone, don't worry. It's probably Stuart Harrison, the council's webmaster, doing his bit to set data free. And to pave the way for a new kind of e-government. Harrison is a driving force behind one of the most refreshing developments in local government I've seen in years – a serious attempt to package Lichfield district council's data about planning applications, food inspections and leisure services in a way that not only makes it accessible but also reusable in third-party applications.

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Innovation hints at a free data model to savour