Get Creative! Open Data Engagement Fund 2019/2020 has been launched

Patrick O’Donovan T.D., Minister of State for Public Procurement, Open Government and eGovernment at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform announced details of the 2019/2020 Open Data Engagement Fund on 25 July, 2019.

The Open Data Engagement Fund (a fund of €30,000), has been developed in conjunction with the Open Data Governance Board (ODGB), which was established in 2015 to provide leadership in implementing Ireland’s Open Data Initiative.  This is a competitive fund designed to provide support towards promoting the use of open data on the national Open Data portal data.gov.ie.  The portal currently links to over 9,000 public service datasets in open format.

Applications can be made for funding to support a variety of Open Data-related activities.  These include the organisation of outreach and engagement activities (for example, seminars, competitions and hackathons), the building of applications and development of visualisations to demonstrate the use that can be made of open data, or specific research on open government datasets, with a view to arriving at outcomes that help create efficiencies in the public service or assist in government decision-making.    Funding will also be considered for the development of use cases or research to show the impact or potential impact of the use of open data.

Minister O’Donovan, launching the fund, said ‘I am very pleased with the great progress made in implementing our national Open Data Strategy, 2017-2022 which has been reflected in our rating of 1st in the EU with regards to our Open Data maturity in 2018 for the second year running. This annual competitive fund is an important element of the Open Data initiative and I would encourage students, citizens, researchers, business and others to apply’.

Read the full Press Release. 

Details of the fund are available here. The application form can be downloaded here or an application can be made on-line via the open data portal here.

Closing date for applications is Monday, 14th October 2019.