The Local Government Association (LGA) in Malta is using open source solutions to run its open data platform, Open Data Malta, which was launched on Tuesday. The site uses the Centos Linux operating system, the MySQL database management system, the Nginx web server and the Wordpress content management system.
"In relation to open data it makes a lot of sense to use open source technology rather than proprietary software", says Matthew Sammut. He is the director for design and client relations at NIU, the firm that was contracted by LGA to create the site. "We've been using Wordpress for the last 6 years and it's an excellent platform for different categories of projects."
The first seven data sets available on the Open Data Malta website are related to tourism.
The open data web site aims to make citizens better informed and to participate in the decision making process, LGA explains in a statement. "Open data is the idea that certain data should be freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control. Also, the economic value of public sector information, whose wider re-use is considered a primary content resource for the development of digital markets."
Malta's Local Government Association represents all municipalities in Malta, (54 on Malta island and 14 on Gozo island). Its project has eight partners, including the country's Information Technology Agency (MITA), the statistics office and the ministry of tourism.