More open data in Offentligkonst.se - a national database of Sweden´s public works of art
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | WIKIMEDIA SVERIGE |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 280 000 |
| Project duration | October 2014 - August 2015 |
| Status | Completed |
Purpose and goal
The aim of the project was to increase the number of open datasets of public works of art in Sweden in Offentligkonst.se and by extension on Wikipedia. We consider the goals to have been fulfilled by a wide margin as a third of Sweden´s municipalities are now included. A new user friendly website was also launched with improved search capabilities. The API was extended with a module for artists and a DCAT-AP description was published. We have also detected increased activity around the refining of the material on Wikipedia where even municipalities lacking official data have acquired data.
Results and expected effects
The new web interface and the increased amount of data has made the service both more user friendly and more powerful. During our contact with the municipalities it was however clear that there is still a minority which understands the interest in and use of open public sector data. It is also a recurring problem that no structured data is available. During the course of the project we have however been contacted by both artists and municipalities interested in participating and we believe this interest will increase further once the Supreme Court rules on the related freedom of panorama case
Approach and implementation
The project started with the creation of a communication plan. In the new year work commenced on the new interface for the website. This was followed by updates to the search capabilities and an extension of the API to support new queries. Looks, functionality and FAQ was then iterated based on incoming feedback. In parallel with the work on the platform we continuously made contact with new municipalities, handling their questions and datasets. Included data was then mirrored on Wikipedia where it was refined and then harvested back into the database and hence Offentligkonst.se.