The government said Tuesday that it will take measures to broaden access of public data, in response to the growing demand to use information held at state-run agencies to create mobile or new media services.

South Korea will aggregate all public data at an upcoming Web site whose address will be “data.go.kr” and allow users to search and download all publicly available information from there, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said.

The ministry will also gradually remove barriers in Web portals that bar access to data, as well as reviewing related laws and providing incentives to government agencies to encourage data sharing with the public, it added.

Previously, the government allowed Web browsing of the public data, such as weather, real-time operation information of trains, or gas prices at a local gas station.

But it barred downloading and using those information to create Web or mobile programs in several cases, as the growing number of Web and mobile developers try to tap the increase in demand for smartphone applications.

The move, which marks a turn in government’s previous position toward mobile applications based on public data, comes after a series of events that highlighted the increasing public need to have an access to transportations or gas prices on mobile devices.

In December, the Gyeonggi provincial government revoked its decision to block an iPhone application that sent real-time location information of city buses to users, when the shut-down flared up public opinion.

The blockage and resumption of the Seoul Bus application, released shortly after the December launch of Apple’s iPhone in the domestic market, sparked the debate in Korea regarding regulations and bureaucratic barriers on the information that was claimed “public.”

Officials said it recognized that allowing the creation of Web and mobile services based on information held at government, helps promote the industry.

“The measures is expected to stem further conflicts and confusion between government and citizens regarding the use of public data,” said an official from the ministry.

The domestic sales of the iPhone passed the 400,000 mark as of Friday, and the country’s telecommunication regulator estimates that domestic smartphone users will reach 3.4 million by the year’s end.

YonhapNewsAgency

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