The government launches its Open Data Portal

The government portal of the French Open data, Data.gouv.fr was launched on December 5. 350 000 data sets are offered for free.The data in the French Open happen. Nine months after installation by the Prime Minister, the Etalab, the cell responsible for centralizing data and redistribute public organizations launched December 5 Data.gouv.fr. 350 000 data sets from 90 harmonized data producers are now freely available from this site. An initiative which is an "unprecedented commitment to transparency on the part of the state," says the director of the Etalab Severin Naudet (read the interview with Severin Naudet from 01/09/2011). Among these data, we find the extent of air pollution by department, the mapping of road accidents since 2005 or the composition of the operating budget of the state.
Among the entities producing such data are public companies such as SNCF and Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) to whom the law does not publish their offers and données.Data.gouv.fr geographic data over the network rail transport, such as geographic coordinates of the stations for passengers or railway crossings. The launch of Data.gouv.fr accompanied by that of an "open license" use of data that allows such reproduction and adaptation of these data, including for commercial purposes.
All public data will not be provided free of charge. Some data sets will be the payment of a fee, including some agencies whose budget depends in part on statutory business income, as INSEE and the Louvre. The data should however be paid scarce. They will be a list drawn up by decree of the Prime Minister to be published in July 2012.
Eventually, other data sets should integrate the portal. Some judicial data, such as the number of crimes since 2002 and the identification of offenses and associated penalties should be available soon. The agriculture and employment also require "substantial technical work" before they can make available. The Director of Etalab expects a doubling of the number of data sets available within a year.