Open Data winners promote innovation and transparency

Finance Minister Conor Murphy today announced the winners of the Department of Finance’s Open Data Innovation and Outreach Fund.

Seven projects from Belfast, Derry and Newry have been successful from the £30,000 fund which encourages innovation in the reuse of data on the Open Data NI portal.

Congratulating the winners, Conor Murphy said:  “This fund provides entrepreneurs and organisations with a real opportunity to use public sector data for commercial opportunities and drive future economic growth.

“I am delighted to meet the winners and hear more about the range of ingenious projects and events which will further develop digital skills while creating a culture of data transparency. 

“It is encouraging to see the collaborative approach the winners have taken, working with community groups, businesses and local councils to optimise public sector data for research, outreach and innovation.” 

Full details of the successful projects can be found at www.opendatani.gov.uk.

Notes to editors: 

Notes to editors:

1. The winners are:

• Newry 2020 have been awarded £4,995 to deliver an integrated environmental sensor network to assess the impact of human activities on the environment in Newry and £2,995 to host outreach events.
• Xpand Group in partnership with Belfast City Council have been awarded £4,960 to create a shared access platform to enable business case development and decision making for large scale regional projects.
• Flax & Teal Limited have been awarded £5,000 to develop an environmental disaster simulation tool for use in education and emergency planning.
• Allstate Northern Ireland have been awarded £2,500 in partnership with Belfast City Council to host hackathon events for the technology community and STEM students.
• Derry City and Strabane District Council in partnership with Carnegie UK Trust have been awarded £3,000 to host cross sectoral workshops to tell the story of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon; Derry and Strabane; and Lisburn and Castlereagh Council council areas.
• Farset Labs have been awarded £5,000 to develop skills by hosting a series of Open Data Hackathons and Data Art Meetups.
• Anaeko Limited have been awarded £3,000 to host events and marketing activities for entrepreneurs to develop sustainable business models leveraging Open Data.

2. All media queries to Department of Finance Press Office on 028 9081 6724 or email dof.pressoffice@finance-ni.gov.uk. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer on 028 9037 8110.

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