On May 13th, 'Transparant Netherlands', a data platform developed at Waag in the past months, was launched. It reveals the links between politicians, the government, organisations and the business world.
The database is filled with freely available information, open data. Tom Demeyer, chief technology at Waag about the data: "All this information can be found elsewhere too, but it is scattered, there are bits and pieces everywhere. We have brought all relevant data together and made the underlying relations clear".
Demeyer emphasizes that the current database has to be seen as a starting point: "This is a beginning. The aim is to further enrich the database with information from other sources". Developers can build upon this work, as an API has been provided, to create new applications with.
For those interested, a browser is available to search for persons, organisations or companies. If, for example, we look up prime minister Mark Rutte, we will be presented with an overview of all relations found. With the aid of Lynks software, these relations can also be visualized. By double clicking on the relations found, the selection is expanded.
Transparant Netherlands is a collaboration of: Waag, Network Democracy, University of Amsterdam University Leiden, Centre for Innovation.