Even as ever greater amounts of data are generated and stored, the ability to actually re-use this data in a productive and responsible manner to spur positive social change remains stunted.
Open data has sought to address this issue.
- In the first wave of open data, the institution of FOI laws made national government data available on request to an audience (largely) composed of journalists, lawyers, and activists.
- The second wave of open data, enabled by the advent of open source and the web 2.0 era, called upon governments to make their data open by default to civic technologists, government agencies, and corporations.
These first two waves achieved many successes, much of the data generated today remains locked away, hidden in silos. Much of the available data focuses on national and supra-national levels, despite growing data held in silos at the subnational, local level.
Today, we are seeing the genesis of a Third Wave of Open Data that can unlock these silos and unleash the public good potential of data for the digital era. The Third Wave takes a much more purpose-directed approach than prior waves; it seeks not simply to open data, but to do so in a way that focuses on impactful reuse, especially through inter-sectoral collaborations and partnerships. The Third Wave pays at least as much attention to the demand as to the supply side of the data equation, and it is concerned not simply with data itself but with the broader technical, social, political and economic context within which data is produced and consumed.
Read more about the Third Wave and what the Open Data Policy Lab and partners are doing to maximize its impact.
Download ReportThird Wave Toolkit
The Third Wave of Open Data Toolkit is a resource for data stewards that builds on the Open Data Policy Lab’s previous report, The Emergence of a Third Wave of Open Data. Based on desk research and months of conversations conducted as part of the Summer of Open Data, the toolkit it offers a framework to think about data re-use, one that starts from central questions about how data is created before expanding outward. It also offers eight primers showing how data stewards can operationalize the actions previously identified as being part of the third wave. Each primer includes a brief explanation of what each action entails, offers some specific ways data stewards can implement these actions, and lists some supplementary pieces that might be useful in this work.
Learn how to operationalize data reuse at your organization with The Third Wave of Open Data Toolkit’
Download the ToolkitPrimer 1: Creating and Empowering (Chief) Data Stewards
Developing and nurturing responsible data leaders to support impactful data re-use
Download the Primer Why The Third Wave brings with it a focus on the institutional arrangements that need to be reimagined to achieve a more...
By Andrew Young, Kateryna...Primer 2: Fostering and Distributing Institutional Data Capacity
Taking steps to avoid consolidating and siloing of data skills and resources, and instead catalyzing such capacity to filter into daily institutional operations
Download the Primer Why Organizations across sectors can increase the societal and organizational value created through data re-use by...
By Andrew Young, Kateryna...Primer 3: Articulating Value and Building an Impact Evidence Base
Demonstrating the concrete, tangible value of increased access to and re-use of data
Download the Primer Why In the past, open data advocates have tended to argue for increased data re-use by relying on normative arguments....
By Andrew Young, Kateryna...Primer 4: Supporting New Data Intermediaries
Engaging actors who can lower transaction costs in data collaborative relationships
Download the Primer Why Matching the supply of data with those who demand it can be costly in terms of time, resources, and staff....
By Andrew Young, Kateryna...Primer 5: Establishing Governance Frameworks
Creating safeguards to mitigate risks of harmful outcomes
Download the Primer Why Even 20 years into the digital revolution, rules and regulations dictating data usage remain sparse. While this...
By Andrew Young, Kateryna...Primer 6: Creating the Technical Infrastructure for Re-use
Investing in innovative and sophisticated technologies to improve data use on data supply and demand sides
Download the Primer Why Open data portals have been key in enabling open data, combining various institutional datasets and allowing users...
By Andrew Young, Kateryna...Primer 7: Fostering Public Data Competence
Engaging citizens to promote wider use of data informed by local contexts and priorities
Download the Primer Why Facilitating greater data competence within the general public is an important step to ensuring that it could...
By Andrew Young, Kateryna...Primer 8: Tracking, Monitoring, and Clarifying Decision and Data Provenance
Capturing data-handling and decision-making processes to ensure coordination
Download the Primer Why Data and decision provenance are key to reducing data risks while re-using data in the most impactful way. By...
By Andrew Young, Kateryna...
Summer of Open Data
The Summer of Open Data was a three-month project spearheaded by the Open Data Policy Lab (an initiative of The GovLab with support from Microsoft) in partnership with the Digital Trade & Data Governance Hub, Open Data Institute, the Open Data Charter, and BrightHive. From July through September 2020, we spoke with data experts in local and regional governments, national statistical agencies, international bodies, and private companies to advance our understanding of The Third Wave of Open Data.
The 10 Summer of Open Data panel videos and summaries are available below.
Summer of Open Data
Panel #1: Kick-Off
What Are The Contours of The Third Wave of Open Data?
Today, The Open Data Policy Lab is delighted to release the kick-off panel of our Summer of Open Data including three of the...
By Andrew ZahuranecSummer of Open Data
Panel #2
Data Re-Use from Local Government to the Corporate Sector
Panelists, clockwise from top left: Stefaan Verhulst, The Govlab; Paul Ko, LinkedIn; Denise Linn Reidl, City of South Bend, Indiana; Justine...
By Andrew Young, Mary Ann...Summer of Open Data
#3: Keynote
Conversation with Taiwan's Audrey Tang
The Summer of Open Data is a three-month project spearheaded by the Open Data Policy Lab (an initiative of The...
By Andrew ZahuranecSummer of Open Data
Panel #4
Data Responsibility and New Forms of Collaboration
The Summer of Open Data is a three-month project spearheaded by the Open Data Policy Lab (an initiative of The GovLab with support from...
By Mary Ann BadaviSummer of Open Data
Panel #5
Data Reuse, Service Delivery, and Horizontal Silos
Panelists, clockwise from top left: Arturo Muente Kunigami (Inter-American Development Bank); Malarvizhi Veerappan (World Bank); Jaimie Boyd...
By Andrew ZahuranecSummer of Open Data
Panel #6
Subnational Data, Sustainability, and Skills Development
Panelists, clockwise from top left: Stefaan Verhulst (The GovLab); Rhiannan Price (Maxar Technologies); Stephen Chacha (Tanzania Data Lab);...
By Andrew ZahuranecSummer of Open Data
Panel #7
The Impact of COVID-19 on States, Localities, and Business
Clockwise from the top left: Stefaan Verhulst (The GovLab); Rudi Borrmann (Open Government Partnership); Kara Selke (StreetLight Data); and...
By Andrew ZahuranecSummer of Open Data
Panel #8
Focus on Public Communication, Legal Mandates, and Data Ethics
The Summer of Open Data is a three-month project spearheaded by the Open Data Policy Lab (an initiative of The GovLab with support from...
By Andrew Zahuranec, Andrew...Summer of Open Data
Panel #9
Incentives for Data Reuse, Frameworks for Collaboration, and Centering Data Responsibility
The Summer of Open Data is a three-month project spearheaded by the Open Data Policy Lab (an initiative of The GovLab with support from...
By Andrew YoungSummer of Open Data
Panel #10
Defining the Value Proposition, Building Common Infrastructure, and Avoiding Missed Use
Panelists, clockwise from top left: Andrew Young (The GovLab); Daniel Jarratt (Infinite Campus); Vanessa Brown (National Student...
By Andrew Young
Summer of Open Data
Accelerating Data Collaboration
Jump Starting the Third Wave of Open Data
Despite the proliferation of data, its potential has yet to be realized in policy- and decision-making. Many of the most useful datasets...
By The GovlabSummer of Open Data
Panel #1: Kick-Off
What Are The Contours of The Third Wave of Open Data?
Today, The Open Data Policy Lab is delighted to release the kick-off panel of our Summer of Open Data including three of the...
By Andrew ZahuranecSummer of Open Data
Panel #2
Data Re-Use from Local Government to the Corporate Sector
Panelists, clockwise from top left: Stefaan Verhulst, The Govlab; Paul Ko, LinkedIn; Denise Linn Reidl, City of South Bend, Indiana; Justine...
By Andrew Young, Mary Ann...Summer of Open Data
#3: Keynote
Conversation with Taiwan's Audrey Tang
The Summer of Open Data is a three-month project spearheaded by the Open Data Policy Lab (an initiative of The...
By Andrew ZahuranecSummer of Open Data
Panel #4
Data Responsibility and New Forms of Collaboration
The Summer of Open Data is a three-month project spearheaded by the Open Data Policy Lab (an initiative of The GovLab with support from...
By Mary Ann BadaviSummer of Open Data
Panel #5
Data Reuse, Service Delivery, and Horizontal Silos
Panelists, clockwise from top left: Arturo Muente Kunigami (Inter-American Development Bank); Malarvizhi Veerappan (World Bank); Jaimie Boyd...
By Andrew ZahuranecSummer of Open Data
Panel #6
Subnational Data, Sustainability, and Skills Development
Panelists, clockwise from top left: Stefaan Verhulst (The GovLab); Rhiannan Price (Maxar Technologies); Stephen Chacha (Tanzania Data Lab);...
By Andrew ZahuranecSummer of Open Data
Panel #7
The Impact of COVID-19 on States, Localities, and Business
Clockwise from the top left: Stefaan Verhulst (The GovLab); Rudi Borrmann (Open Government Partnership); Kara Selke (StreetLight Data); and...
By Andrew ZahuranecSummer of Open Data
Panel #8
Focus on Public Communication, Legal Mandates, and Data Ethics
The Summer of Open Data is a three-month project spearheaded by the Open Data Policy Lab (an initiative of The GovLab with support from...
By Andrew Zahuranec, Andrew...Summer of Open Data
Panel #9
Incentives for Data Reuse, Frameworks for Collaboration, and Centering Data Responsibility
The Summer of Open Data is a three-month project spearheaded by the Open Data Policy Lab (an initiative of The GovLab with support from...
By Andrew YoungSummer of Open Data
Panel #10
Defining the Value Proposition, Building Common Infrastructure, and Avoiding Missed Use
Panelists, clockwise from top left: Andrew Young (The GovLab); Daniel Jarratt (Infinite Campus); Vanessa Brown (National Student...
By Andrew Young