How to create an open data culture for startups - Agenda - The World Economic Forum

One of the things we do at the Open Data Institute (ODI) is incubate start ups. Start ups, I have learnt in my 12 months working here, usually begin as being just one or two individuals with a good idea. They have some sort of plan to make that idea a reality. They have some manifestation of the entrepreneurial leadership qualities to at least try to make that idea work. They never have enough time, money or people, and they ordinarily start out surrounded by people telling them all the reasons why it won’t succeed. So when over the course of that year my team and I have found ourselves sitting down with the government leaders driving open data initiatives – in both developed and developing countries – we had the twinge of recognition. Sitting with us were public servants with an idea of what open data could do for their country, some sort of a plan, and the leadership qualities to try to make it work. They also had not enough time, money or people, and have a system full of people telling them all the reasons why it wasn’t going to succeed. There are of course plenty of differences. Unlike private sector entrepreneurs, public officials need permission to pursue their ideas, and for something new like open data they usually need a strong, high-level mandate. Their leadership qualities usually include the pragmatism and collaboration required to get things changed in bureaucratic systems. Their challenges are not necessarily about business models or pricing models, but (as we recently wrote) involve finding ways to embed change or overcome barriers to resistance and vested interests. Yet they are, in many ways, entrepreneurs ... With these insights, and the team’s experience driving change within government and creating supportive learning spaces, we convened an Open Data Leaders’ Network.The idea was to connect peers to exchange ideas, talk about influencing strategy and problem solving, and find and give inspiration and ideas for addressing implementation and consolidation challenges.  The project, supported by the Open Data for Development (OD4D) network (more details below), kicked off last week with a cohort of seven individuals from four continents who each lead the design or implementation of their government’s open data programmes ..."