Professor Nigel Shadbolt in Brussels for PSI Alliance Conference

The UK government’s pioneering Information Advisor is set to address a conference of Europe’s leading innovators in the commercial re-use of Public Sector Information (PSI).

The PSI Alliance 2010 conference will bring together leading figures in the Public Sector Information arena, who will share their knowledge and experiences as the European PSI community moves From Regulation to Action.

Speakers at the conference include:

• Professor Nigel Shadbolt, UK Government Information Adviser 
• Javier Hernandez-Ros, Head of Unit, Access to Information, European Commission
• Gustaf Johnssén, Senior Advisor, Swedish Ministry of Finance
• Ignacio Durán Boo, Deputy General Director Cadastre , Spanish Ministry Economy and Finance
• Michael Fanning, Online Consultants International Gmbh
• Rolf Nordqvist, PSI Alliance Chair 

Professor Shadbolt, together with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, was asked by the Prime Minister to transform public access to information held by the Government. Professor Shadbolt drew on his experience as the leading academic in the field of the web and society to develop data.gov.uk, a site that gives UK citizens unprecedented access to raw government data for re-use.

Visitors to the conference, being held on Wednesday 16^th June 2010 at the Residence Palace in Brussels, will hear about the barriers Professor Shadbolt faced in making this data available, and the opportunities there are for the UK to go even further.

Javier Hernandez-Ros will give an update on the Commission’s position on Public Sector Information; Gustaf Johnssén will talk about his experiences producing Sweden’s new PSI law; Ignacio Durán Boo will speak on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance and PSI Alliance members will share their own stories, from the front line of PSI re-use across Europe.

Building on the success of last year’s conference, places are expected to be taken up quickly. We would urge anyone with an interest in PSI or commercial use of data, e-government or transparency, to reserve a place by contacting Daniel Bacall at info@psialliance.eu as soon as possible.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• The PSI Alliance is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation, founded in January 2008 by a number of private companies using PSI as part of their business.
• Nigel Shadbolt is Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Deputy Head of theSchool of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. He is a Director of the Web Science Trust and of the Web Foundation. Together with Sir Tim Berners-Lee he has recently been appointed an Information Advisor by the Prime Minister to help transform public access to Government information.
• The aim of the Alliance is to achieve fair and open access to PSI in such a way as to maximise innovation, choice and enterprise for the benefit of all: public sector, private sector and citizen.
• The PSI Alliance annual conference is to be held on Wednesday 16^th June 2010.
• For more information about the conference and to reserve a place please contact Daniel Bacall at info@psialliance.eu