Helsinki Region Infoshare (HRI, www.hri.fi) aims at making information, especially various urban and regional statistics freely available by offering easy access in a user-driven way. Today, we have a wealth of information on the Helsinki Region and various parts or districts of the region. There are a lot of distributed data sources and too few joint-use arrangements. The goal is to implement a web service allowing users to search, access and re-use significant amounts of open public data free of charge. Sharing of public data between as many users as possible, and for free, will benefit citizens, service developers and businesses alike. HRI also supports harmonisation of data and improves operation efficiencies on all levels.

Helsinki Region Infoshare (HRI) is a development project running from 2010 through 2012. City of Helsinki Urban Facts (www.hel.fi/tietokeskus) is coordinating the project and implementing it in cooperation with the cities of the Helsinki Region and with Forum Virium Helsinki (www.forumvirium.fi). Moreover, the project enjoys financial support from SITRA, the Finnish Innovation Fund and the Ministry of Finance.

References:

www.hri.fi

www.hel.fi/tietokeskus

www.forumvirium.fi

http://www.wdc2012helsinki.fi/en

INSPIRE- EU Directive. http://ec.europe.eu

Open Knowledge Foundation www.okfn.org

PSI – Public Sector Information. EU Directive. http://ec.europe.eu

Keywords: Open data; Re-use of data; User-driven; Metadata

Biography: Director of City of Helsinki Urban Facts, which is the department in charge of urban statistics, urban research, and information services as well as the City archives. Many of the works and services are targeted not only at the City of Helsinki but also at the Helsinki Region. National task forces in the field of urban research and statistics are often designated to City of Helsinki Urban Facts, which is well networked with universities and major cities in Finland, in the Baltic Rim, and in Europe. Exchange of experiences in the field of urban statistics and research goes even more international. Co-operation with the national statistical office, Statistics Finland, is well established.