Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement, I want to highlight an important event that is taking place tomorrow and that is International Open Data Day.
[Translation] Mr. Speaker, this makes it possible to have online information public in an easy format to be used. [Translation ends]
...encourages innovation and citizens’ participation that has lasting positive results for our communities. Around the world, individuals and organizations have used open data to deliver meaningful projects that the public service either hasn’t considered before or doesn’t have the resources to do themselves.
Tomorrow people will gather in cities around the world to write applications, improve access to public data and encourage the world’s local, regional and national governments to adopt open data policies. Events are planned in more than 135 cities and towns from Edmonton to Ottawa here in Canada, to Washington, DC, Paris, Nairobi and around the world.
Open Data isn’t just something that is happening elsewhere. I am proud to speak of a local community initiative called OpenNWT that was launched right here in Yellowknife by a Range Lake constituent. First launched in 2014 by Mr. David Wasylciw, who is actually joining us today in the gallery, OpenNWT aims to make government data
easy to access for use for both residents and businesses.
OpenNWT was developed, and continues to be developed on a volunteer basis, and today in celebration of International Open Data Day I understand that a number of new information tools will be launched. Visitors to the OpenNWT website will be able to browse the history of ministerial portfolios, committee memberships and government travel expenses in an easily searchable format.
Governments across the globe, big and small, have recognized the importance of open data and are making the necessary investments to give their citizens and businesses universal, easy to use access to information being collected by public organizations.
[Translation] Mr. Speaker, by taking into account the capacity of the population to keep itself informed of what we’re doing, the way we spend taxpayers’ money and the way we monitor our success and our failures, open data makes a more transparent, more responsible and democratic government. [Translation ends]
…to support the adoption of the open data approach and to visit OpenNWT website to see a homegrown example of easily accessible information in action. Mahsi. Merci beaucoup.
