The Open Data Policy Lab supports decision-makers at the local, state and national levels as they accelerate the responsible re-use and opening of data for the benefit of society and the equitable spread of economic opportunity.

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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 identifies best practices in the field of open data to inform the development of responsible data initiatives and open data policies.

The Lab develops and curates guidelines, toolkits, frameworks, case studies, and other materials to support more effective data re-use and data-driven decision-making.

The Lab fosters a network of data stewards within the public and private sectors to share knowledge, undertake collaborative work, and spur responsible data sharing.

Through its Open Data Action Labs, the Lab convenes stakeholders from across the globe to rapidly resolve specific policy challenges that limit unlocking data for good, whether these are related to a specific governance tool (such as data sharing agreements) or whether these are geographical in nature (exploring the state of open data policy across the African continent for example).

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.

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