The idea behind open data is that information held by the government and local authorities should be freely available to use and re-mix by the public.

The Council has agreed to the development of a Sutton Open Data area on our website. Its purpose is to:

1. Make all data we hold available online (unless private or sensitive)
2. Encourage residents, businesses and other interested parties to interrogate the data and develop applications, hacks and widgets
3. Increase transparency and accountability

Related posts:

1. Maine.gov DataShare
2. Draft Public Data Principles
3. ColoradoOpenData.org
4. http://www.datadotgc.ca/
5. Open Bermuda