1. Web 2.0 and Official Statistics:
The UK Perspective
Alan Smith

2. the internet is here to stay…
map of selected portion of the internet (Britt, 2005)
…but it is evolving…

3. change driven by users…

4. enabled by technology…

5. Web 2.0 is about collaboration
but,
even for the public sector…?

6. ?

8. Matt Raymond, Library of Congress
“From the library’s perspective, this pilot project is a statement about the power of the Web and user communities to help people better acquire information, knowledge and – most importantly – wisdom”

9. Web 2.0 and Statistics Producers…
Source: Jessica Gardner, UNECE (2008)

10. the UK Perspective “Today the most successful websites are those that
bring together content created by the people who use them”
“Over the next few months we will be embedding data mash-up into thinking across all of government”
Tom Watson MP
Minister for Transformational Government
Cabinet Office

11. “The Power of Information” taskforce
the UK Perspective
“The Power of Information” taskforce
= there is no option to stand still

12. new opportunities…

13. “statistics.gov.uk” statistics gov - the right channel? web 2.0
PIC – BBC edition,1st 24 hours
PIC – ONS launch
Jedi
PIC – ONS normal
web 1.0
daily hits
200,000
100,000

14. Web 2.0 CAN be a vehicle for expertise
Is it so hard to imagine ONS – or its users - using these techniques?…

15. AJAX/RIA = the maturing browser

16. new tools for working

17. UK civil servants can even BLOG

18. Risks “The Cult of the Amateur” Andrew Keene (2007)
Credibility and authority of official statistics
Access for people with disabilities
Employee access to online tools
Cultural issues – lack of a strategy …

19. Towards a progressive web strategy for ONS
A ‘future of the web’ strategy endorsed by national statistician and directors
Alignment with ‘Power of Information’ philosophy
A decision to embrace Web 2.0 :
development of an API
dedicated data visualisation centre for presenting outputs
= being smarter and more efficient in our approach
…an example

20. Being smarter and more efficient…
An Application Programming Interface (API) for ONS Statistics

25. Silo Based Development Not good for us… Not good for our users

26. Remove the silos……

27. Join it up…
API
API

28. And consider the wider opportunities..
External
Access
(web 2.0)
API
OGDs
API

29. Further reading…

30. ?