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Talis provides services at data.gov.uk

21 January, 2010

Today, the wraps have come off the UK Government's open-data project, data.gov.uk. Talis has been closely involved through the preview and testing of data.gov.uk, and is currently providing many of the data tools and services which will be used as the project unfolds.

Data.gov.uk is the site where the UK Government will publish its non-private public-sector data for general access and use. A large part of the vision behind the site is to encourage the building of innovative services based on this public data. As Professor Nigel Shadbolt, one of the heads of the project, explained: "We are also going to increase the use of 'Linked Data' standards, which allows people to provide data in a way that is as flexible and easy-to-use as possible."

Talis is providing hosting and search services for the Linked Data published through data.gov.uk. These powerful tools give developers the ability to easily work with the raw material needed to connect and reuse information in new ways.

Leigh Dodds, Talis' Platform Programme Manager, explains: "Data.gov.uk is currently using the Talis Platform to power the move towards Linked Data and the services such a move requires. We've also provided training and consultancy on those technologies to the data.gov.uk team. We see this launch as the beginning of a new era of digital innovation in the UK."

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Notes to Editors:

Talis started 40 years ago as a co-operative working on data management and sharing. Based at the University of Birmingham, Talis applied the latest technology to the ongoing task of keeping their libraries in order. 40 years on, Talis has grown to become the UK market leader in library management, and has kept at its core the idea of shared innovation through technology.

The Talis Platform is a Semantic Web environment, delivered as a hosted service to remove startup costs. The idea behind it is to lower barriers to Linked Data development and bring data publishers together with developers. Given the tools and a flourishing environment, we hope to encourage innovation by linking data together.

More information about Talis and the Talis Platform can be found online at http://www.talis.com/platform.

You can also contact Zach Beauvais, Talis' Platform Evangelist, for information about Talis' involvement with the data.gov.uk project, and follow our own perspective on the Nodalities blog (http://blogs.talis.com/nodalities).

Zach Beauvais, Platform Evangelist

zach.beauvais@talis.com, +44 (0) 7775 870362

Skype/Twitter: zbeauvais

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