Last Saturday, the UK Government hosted a pre-G8 Tax, Trade & Transparency event in London.

In the open data session, Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude identified three corresponding challenges: to make all data open by default, to consider privacy but not to let it be an excuse, and to invest in the demand side and give more responsibility to data users.

Commenting from the event, Publish What You Fund Director David Hall-Matthews said:

“These open data challenges are ambitious, but they are also achievable – particularly if data campaigners use the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) format as a model. An open registry would work better than a centrally controlled database for all kinds of information, including extractive industry payments, for example.

“The UK has put transparency and accountability at the heart of the G8 agenda, but now the focus now needs to be on turning ambitious promises into real action.”