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Open Data Institute, 16 May 2014

The Value of Open Data to Business:


The Open Data 500 Study
joel@OpenDataNow.com
Setting the Stage
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My Journey Through the Datasphere
Setting the Stage
Open Data: Accessible, public data that
people, companies, and organizations
can use to launch new ventures, analyze
patterns and trends, make data-driven
decisions, and solve complex problems.

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Setting the Stage
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Setting the Stage
Data for government accountability (government
spending, campaign finance, data on contractors, etc.)

Regulatory data that government collects on regulated
industries (environmental measures, labor conditions,
health care costs, beneficial ownership, etc.)

Scientific and research data collected by government
(biomedical research, weather and satellite data)

Data that can be used as a business resource
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Four Kinds of Open Government Data
Opportunity: New Business from
Government Data
Government Data for Business
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Government Open Data Fuels Businesses in All Sectors
Health Education Energy Use
Financial Services Transportation
Government Data for Business
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Climate Corporation: Leading the Next Green Revolution
Climate Corporation offices in San Francisco
Government Data for Business
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Healthcare: The Next Big Frontier?
Government Data for Business
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Big Data Analytics to Predict Health Outcomes
Government Data for Business
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In-Depth Information on 40K Public Companies
Government Data for Business
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Using Data to Help SMEs Get Loans
Government Data for Business
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Data for Energy Savings
Ogi Kavazovic, VP Marketing & Strategy
Overcoming Obstacles to Being
Open for Business
Overcoming Obstacles to Openness
Privacy concerns, fear, and confusion

The cost/benefit conundrum

The data-for-development dilemma

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Three Issues in Applying Open Data
Overcoming Obstacles to Openness
Overcoming Obstacles to Openness
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Confusion Over Care.Data?
Overcoming Obstacles to Openness
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Why Privacy Agreements Dont Work: Got a Month?
A Proposal for a New Deal on Data:
1. You have a right to possess your data.
2. You, the data owner, must have full control over the use
of your data.
3. You have a right to dispose of or distribute your data.
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Alex Sandy Pentland, MIT Media Lab
Overcoming Obstacles to Openness
Overcoming Obstacles to Openness
McKinsey study: $3 trillion annually worldwide
(government and nongovernment)
30 to 140 billion euros for Europes public sector data
2 to 9 billion British pounds
$30 billion for U.S. weather data
Tens of billions for U.S. GPS data
Hundreds of billions for U.S. health data
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Cost/Benefit: Estimates of Value Vary Greatly
Overcoming Obstacles to Openness
The commercial value of open data remains
untapped . . . in developing countries.
Prasanna Lal Das, The World Bank

Availability of good Open Data is a major limitation
But: Mobile access is ubiquitous
Information can be presented by phone, not laptop
Government Open Data can be supplemented by
expert research or crowdsourcing



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The Data-for-Development Dilemma
Overcoming Obstacles to Openness

A Solution for Farmers in Ghana
Overcoming Obstacles to Openness
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Overcoming Obstacles to Openness
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The Overall Challenge:
Making Government Data Usable and Useful
Making Government Data Useful
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DATA Act: Both Parties Agree on Transparency Data
Making Government Data Useful
[Open Data is] going to help launch more
businesses. . . . Its going to help more
entrepreneurs come up with products and
services that we havent even imagined yet.
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Open Data as a Presidential Priority (May 2013)
President Barack Obama
Making Government Data Useful
Presumption of openness
Machine-readable
Reusable
Timely
Itinerary of datasets
BUT:
Provides no new funding
Doesnt prioritize

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The Open Data Policy Requires:
Making Government Data Useful
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The Problem: U.S. Federal Data Today
Making Government Data Useful
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Enigma: Managing Open Data Is a Winning Strategy
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Making Government Data Useful
Socrata: Federal, State, City Data in U.S. and Other Countries
Making Government Data Useful
Improvement in data quality, completeness, and
timeliness
Feedback from data users to data providers
Making life easier for open data companies
Making life easier for government agencies
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Whats Missing?
A New Approach:
Open Data 500, Open Data Roundtables
The Open Data 500
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The GovLabs Central Hypothesis

When governments and institutions open themselves to
diverse participation and collaborative problem-
solving, and partner with citizens to make decisions,
they are more effective and legitimate.

The Open Data 500
Beth Noveck,
Founder & Director
The Open Data 500
To achieve collaborative democracy, we must open up how
government institutions work. We study three paradigms:
1. Sharing Responsibility
2. Getting Knowledge and Expertise In
3. Getting Open Data Out


Goals of the Open Data 500

1. Provide a basis for assessing the economic value of
government open data
2. Encourage the development of new open data
companies
3. Foster a dialogue between government and business
on how government data can be made more useful

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The Open Data 500
www.OpenData500.com

#OD500
The Open Data 500
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The Open Data 500
More than 30 federal departments, offices and agencies
More than smartphone apps
More than weather and GPS
More than Silicon Valley
More than startups
More than a few revenue models

What Open Data Business Involves
The Open Data 500
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The Open Data 500
The Open Data 500
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Open Data Roundtables: Now Getting Started
New York Universitys GovLab . . . is now hosting a
series of Open Data Roundtables to bring companies and
government data owners together. Specific, actionable
feedback from these sessions and others has the
potential to improve descriptions, formats, and
accessibility of government data.
The Open Data 500
The Open Data 500
Prioritize the most important datasets in each agency
Improve each agencys data and make it easier to find,
access, and work with
Connect businesses with agency staff who provide data
Foster continued collaboration
Increase public awareness of Open Data and its uses
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Planned Outcomes of the Roundtables
The Open Data 500
Increase survey response (now almost 40%)
Gather financial data on Open Data companies
Add in civil society organizations
Hold interagency, cross-sectoral roundtables
Replicate internationally (16 countries now
interested)
Hold convenings on Open Data and business use
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Next Steps
For More Information
For More Information
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TheGovLab.org:
Visit Our Wiki, Subscribe to Our Digest
For More Information
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Learn about Open Data at OpenDataNow.com
For More Information
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Open Data Institute, 16 May 2014
The Value of Open Data to Business:
The Open Data 500 Study
joel@OpenDataNow.com

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