The following is a post by Jason Kitcat, Foundation Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation.
Last Thursday we were delighted with the news that the Omidyar Network (ON) have agreed to support the Open Knowledge Foundation with up to $750,000 over the next three years. This is part of a major $3m push by ON in the area of government transparency.
The Omidyar Network, started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, is a unique kind of philanthropic investment firm who combine non-profit and for-profit expertise in new ways. Beyond their financial support, we’re excited by the expertise and experience we’ll be able to access through Omidyar’s support.
We’ll be primarily using this support to grow our network of global chapters, to expand our community including working groups and improve our software, services and apps for using and sharing open knowledge.
We’re very excited by the possibilities this support opens up for everyone interested in open knowledge. Thanks to the ON team for their support, and congrats to everyone at the OKF who worked so hard to make our application a success. The whole OKF team are looking forward to spreading the word and taking our work to the next level.
Rufus Pollock is Founder and President of Open Knowledge.