Since a couple of months I have been working on a new project, called The Data Tank (www.thedatatank.com). In the real world, if an author wants to publish a book (=data), he turns to a publisher to market his book, and bring it to the consumer. For some reason, people don’t think that a publisher is necessary when putting data on the internet.

The consequence? Everybody lives on his own island, and the published data cannot be used to its full extent. We, at The Data Tank think this should change. Large data producers (such as a public transport company or a museum) should be able to make their data available on a common platform.

More importantly interface should be separated from data. Why would you want to go to 5 different sites to search for a car? Just go to the site whose interface you like best! Sites should compete on functionality, not on data. The Data Tank will make it possible for anyone to launch a record of a standardized type (such as a car for sale) in cyberspace. It can then be picked up by any other website.