Unlocking the Benefits

The Open Data Institute’s Lisa Allen explains why open data matters and what it will take for more widespread adoption.

- Joe Casad

World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee cofounded the Open Data Institute (ODI) to help foster a freer Internet. We asked Lisa Allen, Director of Data and Services for ODI, to talk about the group’s mission and the path ahead.

Linux Magazine (LM): How about if we start with a little history? What is the Open Data Institute? How did it get started and why?

Lisa Allen (LA): The Open Data Institute is a nonprofit company that was founded in 2012 (we celebrated our 10th anniversary last year!) by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Sir Nigel Shadbolt. We operate as an institute and a data services provider, collaborating with businesses, governments, and civil society to create a world where data works for everyone.

We were originally established to champion the value of open data and to advocate for its innovative use in bringing about positive change. In the early days, we argued that social, economic, and environmental change would come about through the wide-scale adoption and understanding of open data. The global open banking movement began with a working group co-chaired by the ODI, and now over six million consumers in the UK alone benefit. We also incubated startup companies early on, companies that went on to create 1,000 jobs and generate £100 million (~$125 million) in revenues. Today we work across the data spectrum, helping organizations share data across this spectrum.