Bob Barr re-appointed to the influential Open Data User group
Visiting Professor Bob Barr has just been reappointed to the Open Data User Group (ODUG), an independent advisory body appointed by Heather Savory the Independent Chair and approved by Francis Maude the Cabinet Office Minister. Bob was responsible for leading the group's call for open address data and opening other geospatial data sets in the group's first year. ODUG includes representatives of many types of organization and user in civil society and business. Bob serves as a representative of SMEs, but, as a local councillor, also represents some views of local government and, as a lifelong academic, those of researchers and teachers in the universities. Bob also sits on the Advisory Panel for Public Sector Information, which works with the Office for Public Sector Information in The National Archives, part of the Ministry of Justice which also advises ministers on Public Sector Information and open Data.
Bob has been campaigning for the greater availability of geospatial information for the whole of his career and was responsible for coining the mission statement of the Association for Geographic Information. Which is "To maximise the use of geographic information for the benefit of the citizen, good governance and commerce."