The UK government has put down some pretty firm markers for open data in it's recent document, Putting the Frontline First: smarter government. The section entitled Radically opening up data and promoting transparency sets out the agenda as follows:
1. Public data will be published in reusable, machine-readable form
2. Public data will be available and easy to find through a single easy to use online access point (http://www.data.gov.uk/)
3. Public data will be published using open standards and following the recommendations of the World Wide Web Consortium
4. Any 'raw' dataset will be represented in linked data form
5. More public data will be released under an open licence which enables free reuse, including commercial reuse
6. Data underlying the Government's own websites will be published in reusable form for others to use
7. Personal, classified, commercially sensitive and third-party data will continue to be protected.