Singapore to launch new open data portal

Government wants to make data interesting for everyone through new website.

The Singapore Government is going to launch a revamped open data portal, which is now available in beta. The government wants to “show how data can be relevant to the layman” through the new website, the data.gov.sg team wrote in a blog. New features include interactive dashboards, a data blog and datasets themed by their relevance to citizen services. Dashboards on the home page and on each topic page give visitors a quick glance at the key figures in each sector. A new blog carries posts on data-driven government projects. The first post is already up and is about how data and visualisations are used to understand demands for public buses (see image below). The website also allows users to preview the datasets without having to download them “to make data more accessible”, data.gov.sg’s blog post said. “We are also working on improving the quality of our datasets, and to free tickets episode provide new ones that are relevant to all citizens,” it added. As the team tests the beta website, it wants to hear citizens’ feedback. “Send us your comments at [email protected],” it wrote. The beta website is available at beta.data.gov.sg.