FAQ

Please review our FAQs to answer commonly asked questions about our site:

1. Who is the intended audience for innovate.direct.gov.uk?
2. Why is Directgov ‘doing’ innovate.direct.gov.uk?
3. Can I use the feeds provided on the site for my own use?
4. Can I use content scraped from direct.gov.uk in things I build?
5. Are there any restrictions on what I can do?
6. Can I also use feeds from other sources?
7. Why is there only a selection of government information available through innovate.direct.gov.uk?
8. Why is innovate.direct.gov.uk a beta?
9. What should I do if I have a complaint about innovate.direct.gov.uk?
10. What are the legal points I need to know in plain English?
11. Does the Directgov | innovate site make use of open source?

1. Who is the intended audience for innovate.direct.gov.uk?

The innovate.direct.gov.uk site is available for developers and designers to showcase ideas and applications built using information provided through this site, and for anyone to suggest new and innovative ideas for how to use government content in new ways. While innovate.direct.gov.uk is available for all, we particularly hope to engage the interest and participation of the individual developer community.

2. Why is the Directgov ‘doing’ innovate.direct.gov.uk?

Directgov has a remit to deliver ongoing development in its services and to improve the experience of its users. This requires innovation, not only by Directgov itself, but also through supporting and facilitating the innovation of others. In an increasingly collaborative, networked world we want to explore new models for service design, and new ways of bringing data and applications together.

3. Can I use the feeds provided on the site for my own use?

Yes. You may use these feeds for any type of use. All we ask is that you acknowledge the source of the information and do not use it in a deliberately misleading way.

4. Can I use content scraped from innovate.direct.gov.uk in things I build?

Yes.

5. Are there any restrictions to what I can do? (technically or editorially)

Innovate is all about encouraging people to do things with government information, but there are some simple conditions for using this service.

Invariably, there will be technical restrictions on your use of content. For example, we reserve the right to manage the number of times you can query our servers when using any APIs we might develop.

From an editorial perspective, the information, data and feeds on this site are subject to Crown copyright. That means you are free to re-use the information including for commercial purposes, with only minimal conditions. We ask that you acknowledge the source of the information and do not deliberately misuse it. This does not extend to any third party information on this site, which will be indicated separately.

6. Can I also use feeds from other sources?

Yes. We encourage you to ‘mash’ our material up with other content to create new and innovative propositions. You will need to abide by the rules of whatever third party source content you use, as well as use of public sector information as outlined above.

7. Why is there only a selection of government information available through innovate.direct.gov.uk?

This is work in progress. The government will be making more data available over the next few months – watch this space for details. You can either check regularly, or subscribe to the upcoming mailing list and news RSS feed to receive updates.

8. Why is innovate.direct.gov.uk a beta?

The innovate.direct.gov.uk site is in ‘beta’ for a period of time as we trial the service. During the trial we will respond to feedback from users and work to improve the proposition. We think the best way to approach this is to launch this service as a beta, so you can help to pioneer the service and help us provide you with the tools, content and services that you want.

Whilst in beta the service may not be as slick, polished or complete as you might otherwise expect from Directgov.

9. What should I do if I have a complaint about innovate.direct.gov.uk?

Firstly, please let us know if you have a complaint via email at . We want to know if there are issues with the service or if there are things we need to update.

If your complaint is more general, please use the Directgov Contact Us page where there are various options to feedback or complain via official channels.

10. What are the legal points I need to know in plain English?

Please review the innovate.direct.gov.uk Terms of Use which include a basic summary of the legal position.

You are also covered by the general Directgov terms of use.

11. Does the Directgov | innovate site make use of open source?

The site makes use of open source software and open standards technologies. It utilises Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, Drupal and JQuery.