OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 11/06/12 -- The Honourable Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board, today highlighted a proposed new licence for the Government's Open Data Portal that will make it easier to download and reuse government data during an address at the Government Technology Exhibition and Conference in Ottawa.

"The opportunities that open data offers to spur innovation, fuel growth, and improve people's lives, is truly exciting," said Minister Clement. "We want to make it as easy as possible for Canadian entrepreneurs and innovators to turn government data into user-friendly applications."

The Government is asking for feedback and comments on the proposed new licence until January 2013 at data.gc.ca. The licence, which is modeled on international best practices, offers unrestricted reuse of Government information, and will facilitate collaboration with other government data portals around the world.

It is expected to come into effect in the spring.

Minister Clement also highlighted plans to move to a new open data portal featuring significantly improved search capabilities and enhanced interactive tools. It will be based on a version of the Open Government Platform, which was designed to promote transparency and greater citizen engagement by releasing government data to the public through a freely available, open source platform.

"We are on the cusp of a remarkable evolution in the use of government data and this new portal underscores our Government's commitment to the growing open data movement around the world," said Minister Clement.

The Minister also promoted the Web Experience Toolkit. "The toolkit is a Government of Canada success story that provides great efficiencies through the building and sharing of website components that many organizations can use, instead of developing their own." added Minister Clement

The toolkit is a code library that helps federal departments and agencies, other levels of government, and organizations build websites that are accessible, usable, and interoperable.

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