Guest Blog: How to make open data more open? Close the gaps | Open Data Institute

"UK government policy on open data may be miles ahead of others but the gap between policy and execution threatens to seriously delay arrival in the promised land. [1] 78% of civil servants do not know about government plans for open data and the benefits that follow [2] 75% say they don’t know where to find useful data to help their decision making [3] 57% do not know how to access data sets, how to interpret them or how to best apply data standards [4] Only 52% recognised that ready access to data and data standards will generate new enterprises, jobs and services in the public and private sectors In this first ever analysis of open data understanding across the public sector, our civil servants are saying that they find it too difficult to access and reuse the right data and, critically, that they do not have the technical knowledge and expertise to exploit what data is available.  So what should those charged with leading the way on open data make of this? The research identifies that better skills, training and communication across government will undoubtedly make a big difference. But I was particular drawn by two conclusions..."