For a fair, free and open future: celebrating 15 years of the Open Knowledge Foundation – Open Knowledge Foundation Blog

"Fifteen years ago, the Open Knowledge Foundation was launched in Cambridge by entrepreneur and economist Rufus Pollock.

At the time, open data was an entirely new concept. Worldwide internet users were barely above the 10 per cent mark, and Facebook was still in its infancy.

But Rufus foresaw both the massive potential and the huge risks of the modern digital age. He believed in access to information for everyone about how we live, what we consume, and who we are – for example, how our tax money gets spent, what’s in the food we eat or the medicines we take, and where the energy comes from to power our cities.

From humble beginnings, the Open Knowledge Foundation grew across the globe and pioneered the way that we use data today, striving to build open knowledge in government, business and civil society – and creating the technology to make open material useful.

We created the Open Definition that is still the benchmark today – that open data and content can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose.

With staff on six continents, we became known as Open Knowledge International and launched projects in dozens of countries...."