Information collected by or for the government is a national resource which should be managed for public purposes. Such information should be freely available for anyone to use unless there are compelling privacy, confidentiality or security considerations by the government. As part of government transparency aimed at strengthening citizen trust and engagement, countries around the world face unprecedented pressure to share government information. This has made governments embrace Open Data initiatives and make them an integral part of their respective Open Government and/or national e- Government programs.

Opening up government data and information is a key foundation to creating a knowledge based economy and society. Releasing previously ‘locked-up’ government-held datasets and providing raw data to their citizens, will allow them to transform data and information into tools and applications that help individuals and communities; and to promote partnerships with government to create innovative solutions.