Open data—it’s all around us

In a sense, we're all familiar with "open data" already, even if we don't realize it. It's all around us. Every day, we use or benefit from services and tools that depend on open data: transportation and weather apps, for example, but also apps that help people find fresh produce in their area, or maybe the best place to fix a flat tire.

But open data can also just be getting an organization’s stakeholders to productively share their knowledge. In some cases it’s required by the regulating authorities, but nevertheless both public and private organizations have chosen to open up their data to foster innovation as well as increase transparency with their stakeholders.

So open data is both an idea and a set of practices, all designed to create value through data that’s available to as many people as possible for them to use, enrich, and share in turn.

But of course, “open” doesn't mean a free-for-all. You determine what you share, with whom you share it, and for data you do share you decide how your data is licensed.

An example: Infrabel, benefits inside and outside of the company

Infrabel builds, maintains, and modernizes the Belgian railway network, as well as coordinates train traffic throughout the country. Responsible for monitoring and reporting punctuality, Infrabel built an open data portal, sharing data with external stakeholders, citizens, and the media.
 

We chose to be proactive when it comes to data sharing, increasing transparency around all of our operations. This is helping us start a shift towards a more data-driven culture, with our people now coming up with a growing number of ways of using data to benefit us and our stakeholders.

   Lucas Smet, Project Lead Open Data, Knowledge Center, Strategy, Corporate & Public Affairs at Infrabel

Groupe BPCE, a major player in the French banking sector, launched its first open data portal in 2017. The aim was to make it easier for customers, employees, and partners to access public data. It was the first French banking group to make its datasets available to the general public, not driven by regulatory requirements or competitor activity, but instead driven by the benefits open data could provide.

Let your data dance

So data on its own is fine, but when your data meets the right crowd—be it people or other data, wonderful things can happen. If it's Sam in Statistics or Maya in Management, or a new idea based on data like yours, your data can be used to get the job done.

So let your data get out a little, and let it dance.