Help Us to Cultivate the Digital Commons!

At the Open Knowledge Foundation we work to cultivate a global commons of digital material that everyone is free to use and enjoy. This digital commons includes everything from open data about carbon emissions or spending from governments around the world; to open access research in the sciences, the humanities, and many other disciplines; to […]

Andrew Stott joins OKFN Advisory Board

We’re very pleased to announce that Andrew Stott, the UK’s former Director for Transparency and Digital Engagement who pioneered data.gov.uk, has joined the Open Knowledge Foundation’s Advisory Board. For those of you who aren’t familiar with him already from our events or from our open-government mailing list, here’s a brief bio: Andrew Stott was the […]

“Carbon dioxide data is not on the world’s dashboard” says Hans Rosling

Professor Hans Rosling, co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation and Advisory Board Member at the Open Knowledge Foundation, received a standing ovation for his keynote at OKFestival in Helsinki in September in which he urged open data advocates to demand CO2 data from governments around the world. Following on from this, the Open Knowledge […]

Goodbye Aaron Swartz – and Long Live Your Legacy

Aaron Swartz, coder, writer, archivist and activist, took his own life in New York on Friday. Aaron worked tirelessly to open up and maximise the societal impact of information in three areas which are central to our work at the Foundation: public domain cultural works, public sector information, and open access to publicly funded research. […]

Did Gale Cengage just liberate all of their public domain content? Sadly not…

Earlier today we received a strange and intriguing press release from a certain ‘Marmaduke Robida’ claiming to be ‘Director for Public Domain Content’ at Gale Cengage’s UK premises in Andover. Said the press release: Gale, part of Cengage Learning, is thrilled to announce that all its public domain content will be freely accessible on the […]

Season’s Greetings from the Open Knowledge Foundation!

To celebrate the season our Public Domain Review project has put together a digest of festive public domain images and texts – including a selection of Christmas diary entries, a pictorial history of Santa Claus, and a beautiful book of snowflake illustrations. From all of us at the Open Knowledge Foundation, we wish you festive […]

OKFN meetups in Boston and San Francisco, 3rd October 2012

The Open Knowledge Foundation will be hosting some of its first meetups in the US next week. On Wednesday 3rd October you can join others interested in open data, open content and the public domain in Boston and San Francisco. The Boston meetup is focusing on “global annotation, web caching, and shared data initiatives” and […]

Open data and access to information advocates unite!

Today is the tenth International Right to Know Day. Freedom of Information organisations and advocates around the world are marking the day with activities to celebrate and raise awareness of the right to information. FOIAnet has a good overview of things that are happening around the world. What does access to information have to do […]

Visualising Europe’s Languages

Jonathan Van Parys of Where’s My Villo? fame got in touch to tell us about a nice little mini-project he’s just launched to coincide with the European Day of Languages, which is today: Launching on the 2012 European Day of Languages, languageknowledge.eu is a new website that visualizes language knowledge in Europe based on the […]

“Demand carbon dioxide data” says Hans Rosling to open data advocates at OKFestival

Gapminder is one of the best known examples of a project which uses open data to improve public understanding of big global issues and trends. Yesterday Gapminder Founder Hans Rosling, who is also on the Open Knowledge Foundation’s Advisory Board, gave a spectacular keynote talk at OKFestival, for which he received a standing ovation. In […]

New open source “publishing-house-in-a-box” makes it easier for scholars to publish open access monographs

Today the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) released a new piece of software called the Open Monograph Press. As it says in their press release: OMP is an open source software platform for managing the editorial workflow required to see monographs, edited volumes, and scholarly editions through internal and external review, editing, cataloguing, production, and publication. […]

“Rest assured, the EU is behind you” says European Commissioner Neelie Kroes to OKFestival participants

If you have more than a passing interest in EU policies related to the internet, digital content and digital technologies then you’ve probably heard of Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda. Today Neelie gave a virtual address for participants at OKFestival, one of the largest open knowledge […]

New open access recommendations ten years on from Budapest Open Access Initiative

The notion of open access – or making research freely usable by all, without cost or legal barriers – has been in the news quite a bit this year. It received significant media coverage on the back on the so-called Academic Spring, and subsequent high profile activities and announcements in the UK, the US and […]

Open Street Map has officially switched to ODbL – and celebrates with a picnic

Open Street Map is probably the best example of a successful, community driven open data project. The project was started by Steve Coast in 2004 in response to his frustration with the Ordnance Survey’s restrictive licensing conditions. Steve presented on some of his early ‘mapping parties’ – where a small handful of friends would walk […]

Science, data and the public

Earlier this week the European Commission released a package of documents related to their nascent policies on access to scientific information. What will these mean for science and for public engagement with science? New open access policies have been in the headlines quite a bit recently, as politicians and policy makers respond to the wave […]

What data can and cannot do

Mining for Information by JD Hancock on Flickr (CC BY) In the early days of photography there was a great deal of optimism around its potential to present the public with an accurate, objective picture of the world. In the 19th century pioneering photographers (later to be called photojournalists) were heralded for their unprecedented documentary […]

All Things Come To Those Who Wait

‘All Things Come To Those Who Wait’ is an older version of the more common proverb ‘Good Things Come To Those Who Wait’. When the poor fellow waiting in the picture above was published, copyright in printed matter in the UK expired at the same time the author did. By 1842 copyright outlived the author […]

Petition the White House to Open Up Publicly Funded Research

John Wilbanks, co-author of the Panton Principles and past OKFN Advisory Board Member, just launched a petition to ask the White House to mandate free access to publicly funded research in the US. Here’s what it says: We believe in the power of the Internet to foster innovation, research, and education. Requiring the published results […]

Poster about the Data Journalism Handbook for the Information Design Conference 2012

Freelance infographic designer Lulu Pinney has kindly designed a wonderful poster which illustrates some of the topics covered in the Data Journalism Handbook, a free, open source reference book which shows how journalists can use data to improve the news. She uses a process diagram to represent different aspects of the data journalist’s workflow – […]

Illustrations for the Data Journalism Handbook

Here is a preview of some illustrations for the Data Journalism Handbook, a free, open source reference book which shows how journalists can use data to improve the news. They were created by the talented Kate Hudson, based on the original designs she did for the book at MozFest 2011. If you want to be […]

Europe’s Energy wins a Silver Award at Malofiej 20

This post is cross-posted from jonathangray.org. Europe’s Energy, a project I helped to create to put EU energy targets into context, has just won a Silver Award at Malofiej 20. The Malofiej Awards recognise innovative infographics from around the world: The Malofiej Awards have since 1993 given recognition to the best infographics published in print […]

Let’s Make OpenPhilosophy.org!

The following post is by the Open Knowledge Foundation’s Jonathan Gray and is cross-posted from his personal blog. A little while ago I posted some ideas for a project called OpenPhilosophy.org, which would enable users to transcribe, translate, annotate and create collections of philosophical texts which have entered the public domain. As was announced last […]

TEXTUS: an open source platform for working with collections of texts and metadata

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. It is cross-posted from jonathangray.org. Since finally blogging about OpenPhilosophy.org last month I’ve been thinking about how one could make a generic open source platform that could be used to power it, and other things like it. Enter ‘TEXTUS’: TEXTUS is […]

Ideas for OpenPhilosophy.org

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. It is cross-posted from jonathangray.org. For several years I’ve been meaning to start OpenPhilosophy.org, which would be a collection of open resources related to philosophy for use in teaching and research. There would be a focus on the history of philosophy, […]

European Commission launches Open Data Strategy for Europe

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. This morning Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda announced a new Open Data Strategy for Europe. I wrote a bit of background on the announcement on Friday for the Guardian Datablog, discussing what this […]

Hacks and hackers gather to write the first Data Journalism Handbook

The following post is from Federica Cocco, a freelance journalist and the former editor of Owni.eu, a data-driven investigative journalism site based in Paris. She has also worked with Wired, Channel 4 and the Guardian. It is cross posted on DataDrivenJournalism.net and on the Data Journalism Blog. Ravensbourne College is an ultramodern cubist design school […]

A translation fund for public domain texts

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. It was originally posted on his blog. If a text is widely known and published more than a century and a half ago, chances are that it will be freely available on the web to read and download. Every person with […]

Open Data in Cultural Heritage: Finding your way through the license labyrinth, London, 24th November 2011

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. Following on from our Open GLAM workshop in Warsaw last month, in a few weeks we’re hosting a half day workshop looking at how to overcome barriers to opening up data in the cultural heritage sector. So far we have confirmed […]

The Data Journalism Handbook at #MozFest 2011 in London

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. With the Mozilla Festival approaching fast, we’re getting really excited about getting stuck into drafting the Data Journalism Handbook, in a series of sessions run by the Open Knowledge Foundation and the European Journalism Centre. As we blogged about last month, […]

#ogdcamp opening talk from Neelie Kroes

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. Here is the video and full text for Neelie Kroes’s address at Open Government Data Camp 2011. Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, Opening up public data will foster the participation of citizens in political and social life, increase the transparency of […]

PRESS RELEASE: The world’s biggest open data event

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. The Open Government Data Camp 2011 takes place tomorrow in Warsaw. We’re really excited. Our press release is below. We’d be grateful for any help in sending this to relevant colleagues and organisations! PRESS RELEASE: The world’s biggest open data event […]

What open data catalogs are there in your country?

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. Earlier this year at OKCon 2011 in Berlin we launched datacatalogs.org to make a comprehensive list of open data catalogs around the world. We’ve just upgraded it to run on the latest version of CKAN, our open source data hub software, […]

#ogdcamp 2011 is coming!

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. The world’s biggest open data event to date, Open Government Data Camp 2011, is taking place in Warsaw next week. Our dedicated team of organisers has been busy working around the clock to prepare a veritable feast of all things open […]

Open GLAM Workshop, Warsaw, 15th September 2011

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. How can we encourage more galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM institutions) to open up their holdings – including metadata about their collections, and digital copies of works which have entered the public domain? Following on from my post on opening […]

EU Travel Bursary for Open Government Data Camp 2011

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. The European Commission has very kindly offered to provide an EU travel bursary for Open Government Data Camp 2011. It will cover travel and accommodation for up to 30 participants from across Europe. You can find full details here: Here’s an […]

Registration for Open Government Data Camp 2011 is now open!

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. We’re delighted to announce that registration for Open Government Data Camp 2011 is now open! This will be the biggest international open data event to date. An quick overview in numbers: 2 days of talks, workshops and code sprints 10 days […]

The Public Domain Review has a new website!

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. As part of our work to open up the wealth of cultural works which have entered the public domain, earlier this year we launched the Public Domain Review. Adam Green, the Public Domain Review‘s wonderful Editor, has been hard at work […]

New EU consultation on open access to scientific information

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. The European Commission has recently announced a consultation on access to scientific information. If you’re interested in open data in science (e.g. as per the Panton Principles for open data in science), then we’re sure the EC would love to hear […]

Open content film blocked by YouTube in Germany

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. Cartoonist, animator and activist Nina Paley recently got in touch with me after her talk at OKCon 2011, saying that her openly licensed film Sita Sings the Blues has been blocked by YouTube in Germany: GEMA has blocked Sita Sings the […]

We need international open government data principles

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. We need a set of international open government data principles. Why? Because as the ‘open data‘ meme travels around the world – unlocking information from local, regional and national public bodies as it goes – we want to make sure that […]

Let’s open up the public domain!

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. I’ve recently been thinking about the role the Open Knowledge Foundation can play in helping to open up the public domain. Ultimately I think we should help to rally existing stakeholders from around the world behind a simple vision, and encourage […]

Release of DataCatalogs.org to map open data around the world

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. We’re very pleased to announce an alpha version of datacatalogs.org, a website to help keep track of open data catalogues from around the world. The project is being launched to coincide with our annual conference, OKCon 2011. You can see the […]

Notes from Open Metadata Workshop, The Hague, 15th June 2011

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. Last week I went to an excellent workshop on open metadata organised by Europeana. The workshop drew together directors from libraries, archives and cultural heritage organisations across Europe – such as the British Library, the Deutsche National Bibliothek, the UK National […]

What next for data journalism?

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. We’re really exciting about our session on the future of data journalism at OKCon 2011 in Berlin. The session takes place on 30th June. From the blurb: In the past 2 years we have seen an explosion in the availability of […]

Launch of DonneesLibres.fr – Declaration on Open Data in France

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. Several key open data organisations in France – including Regards Citoyens, Creative Commons France and Veni Vidi Libri – have clubbed together to draft a Declaration on Open Data in France: The declaration emphasises the importance of a legal and licensing […]

Spending Stories is a winner of the Knight News Challenge!

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. We’re thrilled to announce that our proposal for Spending Stories has been chosen as a winner for the Knight News Challenge. What is Spending Stories about? News stories about government finances are common, but readers often find it challenging to place […]

Notes from Visualizing Europe event, 14th June 2011

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. Last week I participated in an event called Visualizing Europe organised by the folks at visualizing.org in association with the Open Knowledge Foundation and Infosthetics. There were lots of really interesting talks and demos on data visualisation projects from across Europe […]

Bulgarian translation of the Open Knowledge Definition (OKD)

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. We are pleased to now have a Bulgarian translation of the Open Knowledge Definition thanks to Peio Popov. You can find this at: http://www.opendefinition.org/okd/bulgarian/ If you’d like to translate the Definition into another language, or if you’ve already done so, please […]

Open Government Data Camp 2011 is coming soon!

Open Government Data Camp 2011 is coming soon! You can find more at: We’re currently working with the excellent Centrum Cyfrowe Projekt:Polska to finalise logistics for the event, which is currently scheduled to take place on 21st October 2011. As with last year’s event, we will have lots of developers, designers, data journalists, public servants, […]

Who were the winners of Europe’s biggest open data competition?

The following post is from Jonathan Gray, Community Coordinator at the Open Knowledge Foundation. Today we’re pleased to announce the winners of the Open Data Challenge, Europe’s biggest open data competition. The 1st prizes for each category will be awarded later today by European Commission Vice President, Neelie Kroes at the Digital Agenda Assembly in […]

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