Chancellor George Osborne says the UK should be at the forefront of an “open data” revolution, enjoying better services and reduced costs.

Speaking at Google Zeitgeist 2011, Osborne said the government planned to unlock thousands of sets of data to help consumers make informed choices and keep the Government honest over spending.

“Our ambition is to become the world leader in open data, and accelerate the accountability revolution that the internet age has unleashed,” he said, citing the fact that the Government had made 6,000 data sets on costs and spending available.

“Already it seems incredible that this time last year, the British public couldn’t access even some of the most basic information needed to hold the government to account, such as spending data broken down on an item by item basis, procurement tender documents and the salaries of senior government officials.”