Open data provides many advantages in various social and economic issues of the world and allows for different components to work together. To mark the importance of open data and spread its awareness across the globe, we have an International Open Data Day.
About The Day
The International Open Data Day is an annual event that takes place globally in the first week of March and focuses on promoting awareness and use of open data. Different universities and institutes host activities like talks, seminars, demonstrations, hackathons, training or the announcement of open data releases or other milestones in open data. People from different backgrounds come together to discuss the possibility of open data helping in solving issues.
How Did It Begin?
Public policy entrepreneur and information technology expert David Eaves was the first one to put forward the idea of an International Open Data in the year 2010. The idea followed discussions with Edward Ocampo-Gooding, Mary Beth Baker, Daniel Beauchamp, Pedro Markun, and Daniela Silva.
From 2015, Open Knowledge International in cooperation with other NGOs from the Open Data world offers mini-grants to support the facilitation of events pertaining to the open data day. According to a news report, the top 5 countries that championed the use of open data were Indonesia, Burkina Faso, Argentina, Nigeria and Mexico and Mexico is the leading country in open governance, regionally and globally. The country’s open data portal comprises of 16,500 datasets curated from 221 public institutions.
Importance Of Open Data
Open data is, as the name suggests, data that can be freely used and redistributed by anyone to the requirement to attribute. Such transparency of data can bring about positive changes to society.
Open data can have environmental benefits. It can be applied to the traffic and save 629 million hours of unnecessary waiting time on the roads. It also helps in tackling environmental problems like floods, deforestation, air and water pollution. It can also benefit the economy of a country. With easy access to information, it contributes to the development of innovative services and the creation of business models, in an effective manner. It can also help in social welfare. Society benefits from the information that is important and has easy access. Open data can also be used to track public money flows, and many other issues of society.
Importance Of the Day
The purpose of the day is to share the awareness of open data. It is an opportunity for people worldwide to support and encourage the adoption of policies pertaining to open data by the local, regional and central governments, business and civil society. It is to help and encourage the global open data community.
