Laura Bacon at Omidyar Network: “In 2010, the year the United Kingdom launched its open data portal, a Transparency & Accountability Initiative report highlighted both the promise and potential of open data to improve services and create economic growth.
In the five years since, the UK’s progress in opening its data has been pioneering and swift, but not without challenges and questions about impact. It’s this qualified success that prompted us to commission this report in an effort to understand if the promise and potential of open data are being realized, and, specifically, to…
… explore and document open data’s social, cultural, political, and economic impact;
… shine a light on the range of sectors and ways in which open data can make a difference; and
… profile the open data value chain, including its supply, demand, use, and re-use.
The report’s author, Becky Hogge, finds that open data has had catalytic and significant impact and that time will likely reveal even further value. She also flags critical challenges and obstacles, including closed datasets, valuable data not currently being collected, and important privacy considerations….Download full report here.”