2018/2019 Open Data Engagement Fund 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 2018/2019 Open Data Engagement Fund on 21 September, 2018.

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 8,700 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 to show the impact or potential impact of the use of open data.

Minister O’Donovan, in welcoming the announcement, said: ‘I am delighted to announce that the Open Data Engagement Fund will run again this year.  Opening up government data provides new opportunities for research, innovation, engagement and greater efficiency for all sectors of the economy.  This is the third year that this funding has been made available and it provides an ideal opportunity for students, citizens, researchers, business and others to engage in the Open Data initiative and to show the benefits that can arise from the availability of government data in open format'.

Details of the Fund are available here. The application form is available here.

Closing date for applications is Friday, 26th October 2018.