The Guardian today launched Open Platform, a service that will allow partners to reuse theguardian.com content and data for free and weave it "into the fabric of the internet".

Open Platform launched with two separate content-sharing services, which will allow users to build their own applications in return for carrying Guardian advertising.

A content application programming interface (API) will smooth the way for web developers to build applications and services using Guardian content, while a Data Store will contain datasets curated by Guardian editors and open for others to use.

Emily Bell, the Guardian News & Media director of digital content, described Open Platform as a "new chapter in our history and a new foundation for the future of our journalism".

She said that Open Platform would allow Guardian content "to be woven into the fabric of the internet" as people outside the organisation saw the value of adding Guardian content to their projects.

The Cass Sculpture Foundation is using the service to add Guardian articles about British artists to its site.

Other partners for the launch of the service include web design firm Stamen and OpenStreetMap, a free, open alternative to commercial map data services. Stamen and OpenStreetMap developed a service that they hope will encourage Guardian readers to "geo-tag" the newspaper's content, positioning every article, video and picture on a map so users can find news, commentary, video and other content related to their area.

The Guardian experimented with geo-location during last year's US presidential election, and hopes the project will help add location information to its vast archive of content.

The other part of Open Platform, the Data Store, provides statistics and data curated by Guardian editors. The Guardian has always collected statistics and data, but traditionally this data has appeared in the newspaper or appeared in a table on a Guardian website. Now, these statistics will be made available for anyone to use.

The Data Store launched with 80 data sets from trusted sources, including figures on child poverty in England and world carbon emissions by country. Simon Rogers, news editor, graphics, at the Guardian, will highlight some of the data sets in a Datablog, suggesting ways that the sets could be combined, or mashed up. It will also be a place where the Guardian highlights some of the best projects from its partners.

The Guardian content API will initially include only written articles from Guardian and Observer staff and freelances to whose work the Guardian has rights.

The BBC launched a developer network, Backstage, in 2005. Backstage provides summary feeds from the BBC news and sports sites, weather data and programming data from its radio and television channels. The developer network encourages developers to "use our stuff to build your stuff".

The Guardian is positioning its Open Platform as a commercial venture, requiring partners to carry its advertising as part of its terms and conditions, while BBC Backstage states clearly that its proposition is for individual developers designers and not for "big corporates".

Some parts of the Open Platform have yet to be finalised, and the network was described as a "beta trial", a programming term for software ready for testing but not ready for final release. Both the content API and the Data Store are available for free, but the Guardian has plans to create an advertising network.

Matt McAlister, the head of Guardian Developer Network, said: "We're looking forward to seeing how our partners use Guardian content across the internet. We want them to take our content and to be more successful because they have partnered with us. These partnerships are key to Guardian News & Media's long-term open strategy."

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