Browsing the BBC's tech news today I spotted this article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8470797.stm
Reading past the bit about Sir Tim Berners-Lee's involvement, I notice a 
Southampton Uni professor - Professor Nigel Shadbolt - was involved too.
In a nutshell, data that is 'owned' by the Government and available 
through the freedom of information act is arranged in collections and 
published online.
Nice idea really - the data is out there, we've paid for it through our 
taxes, so why not make it available?
Sean
-- 
And I've made disapointment
My very best friend
  [Anton Newcombe - Straight Up And Down]