We have completely changed the way we think about data…
…and we have stopped asking ‘why’ data should be shared and are instead asking ‘how’.
The importance of data – its social, economic and environmental benefits – has led to the understanding that data needs to be opened up to its full potential. CKAN is a tool that enables this publishing pathway. Think of a content management system like WordPress, but for data. A means of making data more discoverable, more accessible, and open to deeper and independent analysis, even beyond its original purpose.
CKAN’s Action API is a powerful, RPC-style API that exposes all of CKAN’s core features to API clients.
The CKAN DataStore extension provides an ad hoc database for storage of structured data from CKAN resources.
Extensions provide advanced geospatial features, covering data preview, search, and discovery. Ability to preview where structured data with location information is.
A CKAN portal provides a rich set of metadata for each dataset.
CKAN’s data previewing tool has a host of powerful features for previewing data stored in the DataStore.
An intuitive web interface allows publishers and curators to easily register, update and refine datasets.
CKAN provides a rich search experience which allows for quick ‘Google-style’ keyword search as well as faceting by tags and browsing between related datasets.
FileStore allows users to upload data and image files.
Our goal in creating the Analyze Boston platform is to better fulfil the promise of open data and open government by seeing open data not just as a collection of data sets but as a platform for sharing knowledge
Source: Open Data Portal Beta Encourages Visitors to ‘Analyze Boston’ GovTech.com, March 2017.
[The CKAN community] is invested in a product that works for so many people and is repeatable, sustainable and delivering on the needs of the open Government community
Source: Recorded at IODC 2016, CKAN Association YouTube Channel.
The big win with open data... really making it part of the infrastructure for supporting civil society.
Source: Introduction to the 2016 CKAN Miniconf, Canberra.
Yes, it is ‘white-label’ software as smooth integration is important for many users. The standard recommendation is for side-by-side integration.
Extensions for Drupal and WordPress integration also exist, and the API makes it straightforward to add support for other CMSs and third-party catalogues.
We apply security patches as they are released. Major release updates are done on clients’ request, however, we do proactively suggest these where they provide benefit for our clients.
CKAN is open source, free software. This means that you can use it without any license fees but more importantly when you choose CKAN for your catalogue, you are also ensuring that you retain all rights to the data and metadata you enter. This allows you the freedom to move it elsewhere or manipulate it with your own tools without restriction.
