Conservatives want app developers mining federal data - Latest Hamilton news - CBC Hamilton

"Tony Clement says he gives his federal Conservative government an A+ when it comes to releasing data to the public. The president of the Treasury Board and long-time MP visited Mohawk College on Monday to announce a nation-wide competition to develop apps using information released by the federal government.  He says that under the Conservatives, Canada is a world leader in open data, releasing large amounts of information to the public. 'A+,' he said when asked what grade he would give his government. 'Certainly we are world leaders when it comes to open data. I don’t think there’s any government that I’m aware of that can point to the amount of data sets we have available.' Clement was in Hamilton to announce the government’s first national 'appathon,' known as the Canadian Open Data Experience (CODE).  College and university students across Canada will participate in the Great Canadian Appathon. The top students from that competition will go on to participate in CODE, where teams will develop new apps for the public using data released by the federal government. Tech developers and open data enthusiasts are also invited to participate and create user-friendly apps, Clement said.The federal government has released large amounts of information regarding Statistics Canada, the environment, health and public safety and security, Clement said. It’s all at data.gc.ca.  'We’re doing a good job,' he said. 'My attitude is the more we do, the better because I see this as part of our competitive advantage' ..."