The Future Will Be Built on Open Data – Here's Why

"Data has the power to revolutionise and disrupt the way societies are governed. None more so than open data, which is free to access, free to use and can be shared by anyone. It's non-personal and can be used to identify and predict large-scale trends and behaviours. This is as opposed to closed data that is restricted to internal use by an organisation. Many organisations are now seeing the benefits of open data. The European Union Open Data Portal, the British government's efforts under the banner of Opening up Government, and the Global Open Data Index are three examples of initiatives that bring together and make available large amounts of data about industry, health, education, and employment among other fields. Others focus on improving transparency, for example where UK taxpayers' taxes are spent, or how farm subsidies are spent across Europe. There are also organisations, such as the Open Society, that call for greater transparency in order to hold government to account. So the availability of open data creates opportunities for all kinds of organisations, government agencies and not-for-profits to come up with new ways of addressing society's problems. These include predictive healthcare, and planning and improving London's public transport system ..."