Call for cases related to postal code data?

Kuva: frollein2007 (Flickr)

I am looking for international links / case studies / etc. related to opening the postal coda data. Please, if you know wny relevant resources add them to the comments and if you don’t know, but might know someone who knows, pass her the link of this blog post.

The reason why I am asking is that the Finnish Ministry of Transportation and communications has set up a working group to improve the transparency and openness of the postal code- and address registry systems (see the translated ministry press release below) and I hope to be able to support the working group with relevant information from elsewhere.

Example of resources that I found:

• Canadian Postal Codes Threatened in Copyright Lawsuit #openpostal (Julie King, May 2012)
• Open Postal Codes: A Public Response to Canada Post on how they undermine the public good (David Eaves, June 2012)
• Bureaucrats at odds over release of postal code data (Ottawa Citizen, June 2012)
• Dutch Postcodes Case (Epsiplatform, February 2012)
• The postcode saga continues: Geocoder.ca sued by Canada Post (Epsiplatform, May 2012)

Please send me more! Also older and from different countries, doesn’t need to involve any law suits… also easy cases (if those exist) on how postal code data got opened are wellcome.

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Improving the transparency and openess of the Finnish postal code- and address registry systems

Original press release of the ministry (in Finnish)
Working group is set for the period: 01.06.2012-15.02.2013
Working group members

Role of the working group is to find out, how the transparency of postal code system and address registry, could be improved. Its role is to determine how the transparency of these registries can be improved so that the databases could be used for example in the development of new services.

The working group must assess whether it would be appropriate to transfer the maintenance of the postal zip code system away from the publicly own postal company to the Communications Regulatory Authority and the financial implications and necessary legislative actions of such change. The working will make proposals on how to improve the transparency of the postal- and address registries and propose related legislative and other needed actions. The working group will also review the possible effects of proposals to the different stakeholders.

The working group’s mandate is based on the Katainen’s (current prime minister) Government programme, which states that “information resources produced using public funding will be opened up for public and corporate access”. The postal code system and the address register are two key information systems for the society, the possibilities for more open exploitaiton of these systems will be explore by the working group. The aim is that the systems would serve better, for example, new players and operators.