About the Open Data Barometer

The Open Data Barometer aims to uncover the true prevalence and impact of open data initiatives around the world. It analyses global trends, and provides comparative data on countries and regions via an in-depth methodology combining contextual data, technical assessments and secondary indicators to explore multiple dimensions of open data readiness, implementation and impact.

This is the second edition of the Open Data Barometer, completing a two-year pilot of the Barometer methodology and providing data for comparative research. This report is just one expression of the Barometer, for which full data is also available, supporting secondary research into the progression of open data policies and practices across the world.

The Open Data Barometer forms part of the World Wide Web Foundation’s work on common assessment methods for open data.

You can contact the Barometer team by emailing: project-odb@webfoundation.org

Members of the media can download the press release, or request further information by emailing press@webfoundation.org

About the Web Foundation

The World Wide Web Foundation was established in 2009 by Web inventor, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Our mission? To advance the open Web as a public good and a basic right.

Thanks to the Web, for the first time in history we can glimpse a society where everyone, everywhere has equal access to knowledge, voice and the ability to create. In this future, vital services such as health and education are delivered efficiently, access to knowledge unlocks economic value whilst access to information enhances transparency and strengthens democracy.

To achieve this vision, the Web Foundation operates at the confluence of technology, research and development, targeting three key areas: Access, Rights and Participation. Our work on open data connects across these themes, working to support inclusive approaches to open data impact across the globe.

Our work on open data covers:

  • Research - As part of the Open Data for Development Network, we support research and research capacity building across three continents. From 2013 – 2015 the Open Data in Developing Countries project has been exploring use and impacts of open data, and a new phase of this project will commence in early 2015, supporting regional research agendas in Africa and Asia.
  • Innovation - including building the first Open Contracting Data Standard, aimed at putting the $9 trillion that governments spend annually on procurement into the public domain. The project puts our values and research into practice, developing the standard through an open an inclusive approach, and keeping a focus on the participatory potential of open contracting data.
  • Training & capacity building - The Web Foundation’s Open Data Labs are experimenting with how open data can make a real difference in the Global South. By trying out new approaches, we want to accelerate progress and ensure open data rapidly becomes a vital tool to tackle practical problems in developing and emerging economies. Our first Open Data Lab is now open in Jakarta, and we will be announcing more soon.
  • Engagement - To encourage and support more governments to open up their data to citizens, we are co-chairing the Open Data Working Group of the Open Government Partnership, which brings together 80 governments and 120 civil society organisations to share practical know-how and promote good practices.