On December 8, 2018, the Information Management Subsection of the Information and Public Relations Office, on behalf of JIRCAS, received the “Public LOD Award” at the awarding ceremony of the “Linked Open Data Challenge Japan 2018” held at Yahoo! Japan’s LODGE in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The LOD Challenge, which is now on its 8th year, is administered by the LOD Challenge Japan Executive Committee and honors “works” that create new value by “connecting” open data. Subsection head Takanori Hayashi accepted the award and gave a short presentation and demonstration.

The award was given in recognition of its contribution to the Open Data Initiative being implemented by the government. JIRCAS’s Open Data webpage was launched in August 2018, delivering information (e.g., official publications and public notices, etc.) in a machine-readable format that is easy to access and use. JIRCAS’s effort was highly evaluated, with its award citation stating that it may serve as a guideline in promoting open data in public organizations (excluding local governments).