Government sets the Standard with 360Giving
The UK Government’s Open Standards Board has selected the 360Giving Data Standard for use by central government departments and their agencies when disclosing grant giving data.
Jeni Tennison, CEO of the Open Data Institute said “It is great to see that the 360Giving Standard has been approved as an official government standard for the open publication of grant awards by the public sector. It is an excellent complement to the Open Contracting Data Standard, which focuses on government procurement.
Data standards make it easier to build tools that can work across data from different organisations. Standards help people understand how things change over time, compare what different organisations are doing, and relate data of different types. All parts of government issue grants and contracts; publishing this data in a standard way helps government, other grant givers, grantees, contractors and the interested public to see and understand the bigger picture of government spending.”
Founder and Chair of 360Giving Fran Perrin added “Now that our data standard is official government guidance, we are looking forward to more government departments, local authorities and other parts of the public sector joining our community of 100 grantmakers giving us the bigger picture about funding flows to the charity sector.”
The UK Government is one of the few countries with an open standards board. The board’s purpose is to encourage departments to use open standards, not only to save money, but also to make better use of data and be part of a collaborative effort.