[open-government] UK Open Government License is now compliant with the Open Definition

[Christian Villum]

>From the Open Knowledge Foundation blog:
UK Open Government License is now compliant with the Open Definition
July 1, 2013 in Open Data <http://blog.okfn.org/category/open-data/>, Open
Definition <http://blog.okfn.org/category/open-definition/>,
Policy<http://blog.okfn.org/category/policy/>

On Friday the UK National Archives launched a new
version<http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/855.htm> of
the Open Government
License<http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/2/>,
which is now the default license used by the UK government to publish the
lion’s share of its public sector information.

While the announcement hardly made headlines, there is one small addition
to the text of the
license<http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/2/>
that
we were very pleased to see, namely:

The OGLv2.0 is Open Definition compliant.

The new version of the license is now officially
conformant<http://opendefinition.org/licenses/> with
the Open Definition <http://opendefinition.org/>.

As you may know, the Open Definition gives principles for what we mean by
‘open’ in ‘open data’ or ‘open content’. This means that open material can
be used and shared by anyone for any purpose, and – crucially – that open
material can be freely combined without legal issues. This relatively short
bit of text helps to keep the digital commons interoperable, serving as a
green light for reuse and remixing.

The new release of the Open Government License is the culmination of months
of consultation and feedback from the open data community – including
members of the Open Definition Advisory
Council<http://opendefinition.org/advisory-council/> –
which resulted in several important changes.

The fact that the UK government’s new default license is now compliant with
the definition, formally makes good on official commitments to make open
the new default for public sector data.

Jo Ellis, Information Policy Manager at the National Archives commented on
the release:

With the Open Government License v2.0 we see the next step in the evolution
of Open Government Licensing. The refinements provide improved clarity for
users as does the launch of the new OGL symbol. We are also delighted that
OGLv2.0 is now officially conformant with the Open Definition.

Go to blog post:
http://blog.okfn.org/2013/07/01/uk-open-government-license-is-now-compliant-with-the-open-definition/

-- 

Christian Villum

Community Manager, Open Government Data + Local Groups Network
skype: christianvillum  |  @villum <http://www.twitter.com/villum>
The Open Knowledge Foundation <http://okfn.org/>
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