Jonathan Gray

The first decade of the twenty-first century has been defined by our insatiable demand for information. It has led to the emergence of the ‘open data’ movement, whose powerful advocates include politicians and government officials. ...

Why is there a growing momentum behind open government data (OGD)? What are the benefits of making non-personal public data freely available? And what does it mean for both businesses and ordinary citizens?

Open data provides a platform on which innovation and value generation can flourish. If governments publish their data and get out of the way, the applications that people want will emerge.

Open data can reduce integration costs, improve transparency and harness the innovation of others. If you release your data then others will develop applications that make best use of it – providing new services that benefit you directly, like all of those free travel apps that the travel companies didn’t have to write, but which nevertheless drive people onto the transportation network.