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
New Publication
Open Data Policy Lab Releases New Guide Establishing the Case for Data Collaboration and Re-Use
This worksheet helps data stewards, in both the private and public sectors, identify incentives and benefits of providing access to their data for re-use in the public good and create a business case.
Providing access to data to facilitate responsible re-use can help improve governance and public services; accelerate innovation through...
By Lisa Talia Moretti
Report
New Report Assessing the Use of Non-Traditional Data During a Pandemic Crisis Released
The GovLab and the Knight Foundation have released a new report examining the use of non-traditional data for pandemic response.
As the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrate, pandemics pose major challenges on all levels–with cataclysmic effects on...
By Hannah Chafetz
Event
Data Collaboration for the Blue Economy: The GovLab, Intertidal Agency, and Openscapes Host Studio on Data Stewardship and Governance Models for Data Sharing
The GovLab, Intertidal Agency, and Openscapes organized a set of studios to empower early career ocean professionals to open their datasets and embody data stewardship principles.
The Blue Economy is an expansive concept. In the words of the World Bank, it is “the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic...
By Andrew Zahuranec, Kate Wing ...
