A lot of Link Digital’s work involves the development of data portals using two key pieces of open source software, the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network (CKAN) and Drupal.

Link Digital is a CKAN co-steward and has been an active participant in the CKAN community since the software was launched in 2006. We have also been very active in the Drupal space since the early 2000s. And as this talk by our Chair Steven De Costa makes clear, we have been working on projects that include the integration of CKAN and Drupal – architecting a seamless user experience between the two as possible – for our clients since at least 2016.

Now Link Digital has published a CKAN Sync for Drupal module for the open source community that can be added for configuration in a plug and play manner with any Drupal project. The module, developed by one of our developers, Sergey Shchedrin, allows developers to connect their Drupal site menu structure of any CKAN enabled open data management system via what is known as a RESTful API (the interface that two computer systems utilise to request and send information over the Internet in a secure manner).

You can watch a video by Sergey explaining how to access and enable CKAN Sync is available on Link Digital’s YouTube channel here. It was recorded for CKAN Demo Days 2024, a celebration of the impact, innovation and collaborative spirit of CKAN and the community around it.

The current version of CKAN Sync for Drupal has been released to provide others in the community with the opportunity to use and help improve the module. But Link Digital already believes it promises immediate benefits in terms of supporting organisations to deliver public data via CKAN and digital services via Drupal. It represents an exciting way to maximise the native interoperability that is already present in these public facing open source digital projects – both of which are acknowledged  Digital Public Goods (DPG) by the Digital Public Goods Alliance – in a more meaningful way.

Indeed, we believe the synergy between CKAN and Drupal is something that will only increase, as demand grows for more sophisticated and interactive data sharing applications. It is also part of an expanding ecosystem of data and digital benefits being implemented over both projects into the future, such as Rules as Code, DCAT 3 and Public Code Standards, which have the potential to increase the capacity to help deliver and improve public policy.

Link Digital is ready to start a dialogue with you and your team on your open data needs. Contact us and tell us about your project.