Minister Clement Highlights Government's Innovation Efforts in Open Data

SAULT STE. MARIE, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 17, 2012) - The Honourable Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for FedNor, reached out to leading innovators from Sault Ste. Marie to talk about leveraging vast stores of data being released by the Government of Canada and using it to create high-value, user-friendly applications.

In the last year, some 273,000 data sets from 21 departments and agencies have been released and are free to upload through the Government of Canada's Open Data Portal. The move to provide access to public data is part of a growing global trend being heralded as the next big technological revolution, as disruptive as the railway or the printing press. The Government wants to ensure Canadians play an active role in harnessing this opportunity.

"Data is Canada's new natural resource," Minister Clement told a gathering at the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre. "The sky is the limit in terms of what we can do with this raw material. The world is quickly moving in this direction and we want to make sure Canada is a leading participant in this game-changing movement."

Key to the success of the public data revolution is the ability of entrepreneurs, innovators and academics to tap into this resource and turn what is a raw material into value-added applications. The Government of Canada is actively seeking to engage with interested developers to get their feedback on relevant data, the best platforms and optimum search capabilities.

"This is a powerful launching pad for creating businesses and jobs, and supporting economic growth," added Minister Clement. "But we want to hear from you. We want to build this new natural resource together."

The Government of Canada's Open Data Portal can we found at www.data.gc.ca.

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