U.K. Government to create and fund Open Data Institute

The [U.K.] government has fleshed out its plans to create an Open Data Institute (ODI), which will cost £10m over the next five years, and promote the use of public data to help drive economic growth.

The ODI is set to be open for use by 2012 and will provide an ‘incubator' environment for organisations and individuals to explore and experiment with projects based on the use of public data sets, the government said.

To ODI will be co-directed by web creator Tim Berners-Lee. He said the project would create a focal point for those working with public data to come together."We don't just want to lead the world in releasing government data - our aim is to make the UK an international role model in exploiting the potential of open data to generate new businesses and stimulate growth," he said.