What we do
The Open Data Policy Lab works to accelerate the responsible re-use of data by lowering existing barriers and building a center of expertise that will be available to all stakeholders involved in democratizing access to data. The Open Data Policy Lab will achieve these goals through four areas of work.
Using comparative research and analysis, the Lab will identify best practices in the field of open data and inform the development of responsible data initiatives that contribute to economic development and societal resilience.
The Lab will develop and curate guidelines, toolkits, frameworks, best practices, and other materials to support more effective data sharing and data-driven decision-making.
The Lab will foster a community of data stewards, chief data officers, and other decision-makers within the public and private sectors to share knowledge, undertake collaborative work, and spur responsible data sharing.
Using the framework of The 100 Questions Initiative, the Lab will help convene governments and other stakeholders to identify key questions that can be answered by opening up data and implement proof-of-concept initiatives that demonstrate how to harness the power of open data to solve key societal challenges.
Why
Governments play a critical role in providing data that is vital to addressing today’s most pressing problems and improving people’s lives. It is essential that governments at all levels work collaboratively to share data across the public and private sectors in a responsible manner.
Similarly, governments at all levels can benefit from functional access to private-sector data to address important public policy challenges. It is essential to create an ecology in which governments can engage with industry to identify data that may be useful in addressing important public policy issues.
Our work seeks to address a variety of barriers currently standing in the way of streamlining access to data across a continuum of openness, including the absence of an enabling and scalable policy and legislative agenda, a lack of internal capacity, and limited access to external expertise and resources.
From the blog
Event
Announcement: Third Annual State of Open Data Policy Summit
Are we entering a Data Winter or a New Wave of Open Data?
In an era where data drives decision-making, access to data has never been more critical to promote the public interest. However, in recent...
By Andrew ZahuranecNew Publication
“Data Commons”: Under Threat by or The Solution for a Generative AI Era ? Rethinking Data Access and Re-use
This blog was originally published on the Data & Policy blog on May 9th, 2024. The original piece can be found here. One of the...
By Stefaan Verhulst, Hannah...New Publication
NEW REPORT: A Fourth Wave of Open Data? Exploring the Spectrum of Scenarios for Open Data and Generative AI
In the Open Data Policy Lab's new report, the team provides a framework and recommendations to support open data providers and other interested parties in making open data “ready” for generative AI.
Since late 2022, generative AI services and large language models (LLMs) have transformed how many individuals access, and process...
By Hannah Chafetz, Stefaan...