Open data catalogue

All data related to the 2015 Universal Exposition are set out in the OpenExpo open data catalogue; data is displayed in open format in accordance with the Open Definition. Datasets are released by means of open and standardized formats, with particular reference to: CSV, an easy-to-read format with any spreadsheet (like Excel or OpenOffice) and JSON, specifically suitable for exchanging data in client-server applications. The licence used for data is Creative commons - Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Datasets can be sought via a search engine by filtering data in the map, or by surfing datasets per description tag.

For each dataset you can visualize the information in the map. Moreover, APIs (an acronym for Application programming interface) are already active and enable the IT applications to automatically “hook” into OpenExpo data.

The platform used for OpenExpo data cataloguing and display is CKAN, an open source software that enables to catalogue datasets and describes them through a set of metadata, which on one hand, helps users browse through the information, and on the other, facilitates indexing of these datasets in search engines. One of the strengths of the open source model adopted by CKAN is mainly the communities that are built around products of the kind. In particular, also owing to the work of running and promoting the platform carried out by the Open Knowledge Foundation, the CKAN community is probably one of the strongest international communities dealing with the topic of open data.

With specific reference to technology, CKAN back end is based on Python and its front end on Javascript. The database engine is PostgreSQL and its search inputs are provided by SOLR. CKAN has a modular architecture allowing for extensions to be developed for the purpose of delivering additional functions. The cataloguing system uses its own internal model to store metadata in various records and display them in a web interface that enables users to select and search among metadata.

Many and constantly increasing are public entities that have adopted CKAN to display their own information heritage in open data format e.g. Italy’s national open data portal (dati.gov.it) and the European union open data portal (open-data.europa.eu); European countries like the United Kingdom (data.gov.uk) and third countries like Brazil (dados.gov.br) and the United States of America (data.gov). CKAN is very much used also by Italian public administrations, like the Province of Trento (dati.trentino.it), the Province of Rome (opendata.provincia.roma.it/), the Municipality of Bari (opendata.comune.bari.it), the Municipality of Matera (dati.comune.matera.it/), and more.