Experts Chart How To Take Open Knowledge Success To Next Level | Intellectual Property Watch

"The process of opening up data from the public and private sectors has achieved relevant success in recent years, but many challenges are still to be overcome to make data really accessible and usable by the public. These were among the main ideas that emerged from a meeting of open knowledge experts in Geneva yesterday. The 2013 Open Knowledge Conference, an annual event organised by the Open Knowledge Foundation, aims at understanding existing trends with a specific focus on open data use in new areas and sectors. In the opening remarks, Rufus Pollock, CEO of the Open Knowledge Foundation, illustrated the conceptual framework of this year’s conference and the main reasons for opening up data. He explained that open knowledge is an enabling tool aimed at empowering people to act and seek changes through knowledge, data and information. However, releasing data is not enough to produce relevant changes, he said. 'Open knowledge itself doesn’t make the world a better place. I wish open knowledge was a magic potion. Sadly, it is not like that, but open knowledge is an essential ingredient,' Pollock said. Against this background, experts from international organisations, business and nongovernmental organisations presented a number of successful open knowledge projects, such as open data portals on refugees, open contracting, trans-boundary waters and open legal data ..."