The heartbeat of budget transparency

Every two years the International Budget Partnership (IBP) runs a survey, called the Open Budget Survey, to evaluate formal oversight of budgets, how transparent governments are about their budgets and if there are opportunities to participate in the budget process. To easily measure and compare transparency among the countries surveyed, IBP created the Open Budget […]

Read more

An unprecedented Public-Commons partnership for the French National Address Database

This is a guest post, originally published in French on the Open Knowledge Foundation France blog Nowadays, being able to place an address on a map is an essential information. In France, where addresses were still unavailable for reuse, the OpenStreetMap community decided to create its own National Address Database available as open data. The […]

Read more

The Role of Open Data in Choosing Neighborhood

To what extent is it important to get familiar with our environment? If we think about how the world surrounding us has changed throughout the years, it is not so unreasonable that, while walking to work, we might encounter some new little shops, restaurants, or gas stations we had never noticed before. Likewise, how many […]

Read more

Global Witness and Open Knowledge – Working together to investigate and campaign against corruption related to the extractives industries

Sam Leon, one of Open Knowledge’s data experts, talks about his experiences working as an School of Data Embedded Fellow at Global Witness. Global Witness are a Nobel Peace Prize nominated not-for-profit organisation devoted to investigating and campaigning against corruption related to the extractives industries. Earlier this year they received the TED Prize and were […]

Read more

France Prefers to Pay (twice) for Papers by Its Researchers

France may not have any money left for its universities but it does have money for academic publishers. While university presidents learn that their funding is to be reduced by EUR 400 million, the Ministry of Research has decided, under great secrecy, to pay EUR 172 million to the world leader in scientific publishing Elsevier […]

Read more

Seeking new Executive Director at Open Knowledge

Today we are delighted to put out our formal announcement for a new Executive Director. In our announcement about changes in leadership in September we had already indicated we would be looking to recruit a new senior executive and we are now ready to begin the formal process. We are very excited to have this […]

Read more

Call for action: Help improve the open knowledge directory

This is a guest blog post from Open Steps, an independent blog aggregating worldwide information around Open Cultures in form of articles, videos and other resources. Its aim is to document open knowledge (OK) related projects and keep track on the status of such initiatives worldwide. From organisations using Open Data, promoting Open Source technologies, […]

Read more

Global Open Data Index 2014: Reviewing in progress

October was a very exciting month for us in the Index team. We spoke to so many of you about the Index, face to face or in the virtual world, and we got so much back from you. It was amazing for us to see how the community is pulling together not only with submissions, […]

Read more

Open Knowledge Festival 2014 report: out now!

Today we are delighted to publish our report on OKFestival 2014! This is packed with stories, statistics and outcomes from the event, highlighting the amazing facilitators, sessions, speakers and participants who made it an event to inspire. Explore the pictures, podcasts, etherpads and videos which reflect the different aspects of the event, and uncover some […]

Read more

Open Access in Ireland: A case-study

Following last week’s Open Access Week blog series, we continue our celebration of community efforts in this field. Today we give the microphone to Dr. Salua Nassabay from Open Knowledge Ireland in a great account from Ireland, originally posted on the Open Knowledge Ireland blog. In Ireland, awareness of OA has increased within the research […]

Read more

Let’s imagine a creative format for Open Access

This post is part of our Open Access Week blog series to highlight great work in Open Access communities around the world. It is written by Celya Gruson-Daniel from Open Knowledge France and reports from “Open Access Xsprint”, a creative workshop held on October 20 in the biohackerspace La Paillasse in Paris – as announced […]

Read more

Nature-branded journal goes Open Access-only: Can we celebrate already?

This post is part of our Open Access Week blog series to highlight great work in Open Access communities around the world. It is written by Miguel Said from Open Knowledge Brazil and is a translated version of the original that can be found the Brazilian Open Science Working Group's blog. Nature Publishing Group reported […]

Read more

Open Access Week in Nepal

This post is part of our Open Access Week blog series to highlight great work in Open Access communities around the world. Open Access Week was celebrated for the first time in Nepal for the opening 2 days: October 20, 21. The event, which was led by newly founded Open Access Nepal, and supported by […]

Read more

Uncovering the true cost of access

This post is part of our Open Access Week blog series to highlight great work in Open Access communities around the world. Despite the huge amounts of public money spent on allowing researchers to access the published results of taxpayer funded research [1], there is little fiscal transparency in the scholarly publishing market and frequent […]

Read more

Global Open Data Index 2014 – Week ending October 24: Update

Thank you so much for the amazing number of submissions we have received this week. Entering the final week of the global sprint! Next week is the FINAL WEEK of the global Index sprint. Please make sure your country is represented in the Global Open Data Index 2014. Find out how you can contribute here. […]

Read more

Open Access and the humanities: On our travels round the UK

This post is part of our Open Access Week blog series to highlight great work in Open Access communities around the world. It is written by Alma Swan, Director of Key Perspectives Ltd, Director of Advocacy forSPARC Europe, and Convenor for Enabling Open Scholarship. Whither the humanities in a world moving inexorably to open values […]

Read more

New Open Access Button launches as part of Open Access Week

This post is part of our Open Access Week blog series to highlight great work in Open Access communities around the world. Push Button. Get Research. Make Progress. If you are reading this, I’m guessing that you too are a student, researcher, innovator, an everyday citizen with questions to answer, or just a friend to […]

Read more

Building Community Action at Mozilla Festival 2014

Often Community is thought of as a soft topic. In reality, being part of a community (or more!) is admirable, a wonderful effort, both very fun but also sometimes tough and building and mobilising community action requires expertise and understanding of both tools and crowds – all relationships between stakeholders involved need to be planned […]

Read more

Launching a new book on Responsible Development Data

This week I, and a group of development data experts from around the world, met for three days in a small farmhouse in the Netherlands to produce a book on Responsible Development Data. Today, we’re very happy to launch the first version: comments and feedback are really welcome, and please feel free to share, remix, […]

Read more

Storytelling with Infogr.am

As we well know, Data is only data until you use it for storytelling and insights. Some people are super talented and can use D3 or other amazing visual tools, just see this great list of resources on Visualising Advocacy. In this 1 hour Community Session, Nika Aleksejeva of Infogr.am shares some easy ways that […]

Read more

New Open Knowledge Initiative on the Future of Open Access in the Humanities and Social Sciences

This post is part of our Open Access Week blog series to highlight great work in Open Access communities around the world. To coincide with Open Access Week, Open Knowledge is launching a new initiative focusing on the future of open access in the humanities and social sciences. The Future of Scholarship project aims to […]

Read more

Celebrating Open Access Week by highlighting community projects!

This week is Open Access Week all around the world, and from Open Knowledge’s side we are following up on last year’s tradition by putting together a blog post series to highlight great Open Access projects and activities in communities around the world. Every day this week will feature new writers and activities. Open Access […]

Read more

Global Open Data Index: Week 13 -17 October

This is your week-by-week update of progress on the Global Open Data Index 2014. You can check for the most recent country submissions here. We’re now welcoming your participation in sprints across all countries for the month of October, concluding with a ‘Global Madness’ sprint on 30 October. We’re making great progress – thank you […]

Read more

Joint Submission to UN Data Revolution Group

The following is the joint Submission to the UN Secretary General’s Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution from the World Wide Web Foundation, Open Knowledge, Fundar and the Open Institute, October 15, 2014. It derives from and builds on the Global Open Data Initiative’s Declaration on Open Data. To the UN Secretary General’s […]

Read more

Open Humanities Hack: 28 November 2014, London

This is a cross-post from the DM2E-blog, see the original here On Friday 28 November 2014 the second Open Humanities Hack event will take place at King’s College, London. This is the second in a series of events organised jointly by the King’s College London Department of Digital Humanities , the Digitised Manuscripts to Europeana […]

Read more

This Index is yours!

How is your country doing with open data? You can make a difference in 5 easy steps to track 10 different datasets. Or, you can help us spread the word on how to contribute to the Open Data Index. This includes the very important translation of some key items into your local language. We’ll keep […]

Read more

Open Definition v2.0 Released – Major Update of Essential Standard for Open Data and Open Content

Today Open Knowledge and the Open Definition Advisory Council are pleased to announce the release of version 2.0 of the Open Definition. The Definition “sets out principles that define openness in relation to data and content” and plays a key role in supporting the growing open data ecosystem. Recent years have seen an explosion in […]

Read more

Brazilian Government Develops Toolkit to Guide Institutions in both Planning and Carrying Out Open Data Initatives

This is a guest post by Nitai Silva of the Brazilian government’s open data team and was originally published on the Open Knowledge Brazil blog here. Recently Brazilian government released the Kit de Dados Abertos (open data toolkit). The toolkit is made up of documents describing the process, methods and techniques for implementing an open […]

Read more

Streamlining the Local Groups network structure

We are now a little over a year into the Local Groups scheme that was launched in early 2013. Since then we have been receiving hundreds of applications from great community members wanting to start Local Groups in their countries and become Ambassadors and community leaders. From this great body of amazing talent, Local Groups […]

Read more
Open Data Index @ OkFest 14

Connect and Help Build the Global Open Data Index

Earlier this week we announced that October is the Global Open Data Index. Already people have added details about open data in Argentina, Colombia, and Chile! You can see all the collaborative work here in our change tracker. Each of you can make a difference to hold governments accountable for open data commitments plus create […]

Read more

Support Diego Gomez, Join the Global Open Access Movement

This is a post put together based on great contributions on the blogs of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (Adi Kamdar & Maira Sutton), Creative Commons (Timothy Vollmer) and the Open Access Button project (David Carroll). Join the global Open Access movement! In July the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) wrote about the predicament that Colombian student […]

Read more

Why the Open Definition Matters for Open Data: Quality, Compatibility and Simplicity

The Open Definition performs an essential function as a “standard”, ensuring that when you say “open data” and I say “open data” we both mean the same thing. This standardization, in turn, ensures the quality, compatibility and simplicity essential to realizing one of the main practical benefits of “openness”: the greatly increased ability to combine […]

Read more

Join the Global Open Data Index 2014 Sprint

In 2012 the Open Knowledge launched the Global Open Data Index to help track the state of open data around the world. We’re now in the process of collecting submissions for the 2014 Open Data Index and we want your help! How can you contribute? The main thing you can do is become a Contributor […]

Read more

A Data Revolution that Works for All of Us

Many of today’s global challenges are not new. Economic inequality, the unfettered power of corporations and markets, the need to cooperate to address global problems and the unsatisfactory levels of accountability in democratic governance – these were as much problems a century ago as they remain today. What has changed, however – and most markedly […]

Read more

Join our first Regional Community Mentoring and Skill-share Gathering

We are glad to announce our first official Community Mentoring and Skillshare Gathering to be held in Mexico City on October 3, 2014 in connection with the ConDatos and AbraLatam conferences. The event will kick off a series of similar regional events on other continents later this year and into next and will serve to […]

Read more

Announcing a Leadership Update at Open Knowledge

Today I would like to share some important organisational news. After 3 years with Open Knowledge, Laura James, our CEO, has decided to move on to new challenges. As a result of this change we will be seeking to recruit a new senior executive to lead Open Knowledge as it continues to evolve and grow. […]

Read more

Launching a new collaboration in Macedonia with Metamorphosis and the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office

As part of the The Open Data Civil Society Network Project, School of Data Fellow, Dona Djambaska, who works with the local independent nonprofit, Metamorphosis, explains the value of the programme and what we hope to achieve over the next 24 months. “The concept of Open Data is still very fresh among Macedonians. Citizens, CSOs […]

Read more

Open data for Development Training Starts Tomorrow!

This is a guest post written by Justyna Krol of the UNDP and originally posted on the UNDP blog. >> Is data literacy the key to citizen engagement in anti-corruption efforts? Access to open data is transforming the way we live of our lives, and the conversation in our region is just beginning. Governments are […]

Read more

Matchmakers in Action – Help Wanted

Do you have a skill to share? Want to host an online discussion/debate about an Open Knowledge-like topic? Have an idea for a skillshare or discussion, but need help making it happen? Some of you hosted or attended sessions at OKFest. Why not host one online? At OKFestival, we had an Open Matchmaker wall to […]

Read more

OKFestival 2014: we made it! A write-up & Thank You note

Open Knowledge Festival 2014! We built it, made it and ran it – it was a blast, thank you! 1056 participants from 60 countries 215 facilitators and moderators 17 Programme Team members 70 volunteers made it all happen. Who says that numbers are dry? Just by writing them down, our hearts are melting. Group work! […]

Read more

September Community Summit On Air

We’re hosting a September Community Call. Join us to discuss a number of community programming ideas and help make a plan. All welcome. (Amazing drawing by Artepilpilean) What: September Community Summit On Air Date: Wednesday, September 10th Your Local time: 8:00 – 9:00 EDT, 13:00 – 14:00 BST, 14:00 – 15:00 CEST (Also see worldtimebuddy.com) […]

Read more

Open Government countries ranking 2013 (based on OGP data)

This is a guest post by Alberto Abella, head of the Spanish Chapter of Open Knowledge, and originally appeared at gobernamos.com. Open Government (ogov) is possibly next democracy’s milestone. Should you care about open government? Possibly, because it guarantees transparency and accountability. But not only IMHO. In 2014 this passive role for the citizens is […]

Read more

Revisiting OKFestival 2014

Hard to believe that a full month has passed since the end of a fantastic OKFestival 2014. While our team is hard at work following up on all the great ideas and impulses from the event, and evaluating what we can learn, we would like to highlight some of the magnificent write-ups and other documentation […]

Read more

Code for Germany launched!

This is a guest blog post by Fiona Krakenbürger, research associate at Open Knowledge Foundation DE and Community Manager at Code for Germany In July 2014, the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany launched its program “Code for Germany! Prior to the OK Festival in Berlin, we presented the project to the media, international partners, city representatives, […]

Read more

25 Countries in the Same Room: The OKFestival Community Summit

Photo by Heather Leson, CC-BY-SA Two weeks back, over 1,000 people gathered in Berlin to co-create the future of the open knowledge movement. Even before OKFestival had officially kicked off, over 50 people from over 25 countries piled into a crowded, hot room on a glorious Berlin afternoon, to work through the pressing issues, opportunities […]

Read more

The state of Swedish digital policy: Open Knowledge Sweden at the annual Almedalen Political Summit

This is a guest blog post by Kristina Olausson, Blog writer and editor for Open Knowledge Sweden. You can see the Swedish version it is based on here. Photo by Socialdemokrater, CC-BY-ND Part of the team of Open Knowledge Sweden, Kristina Olausson and Mattias Axell, visited the annual politicians week – the Almedalen week at […]

Read more

Thank you for joining us at Open Knowledge Festival 2014!

Thank you for joining us in Berlin and helping to shape OKFestival and the future of the open knowledge movement! We hope that the event provided you with the opportunity to learn, to share and to connect with open knowledge advocates from around the world. While we were excited and inspired by the collaborations and […]

Read more

OKFestival: Day Two Highlights & Wrap Up

What a Week! Between five incredible keynotes, 70+ participatory sessions, an unFestival and countless fringe events, not to mention informal strategizing in the courtyards of the Kulturbrauerei, I am sure that we are all still taking some time to process all the information. Last week, our incredible volunteers put together a Day 1 roundup, highlighting […]

Read more

Open Knowledge Festival – the story so far…

It is hot hot hot here in Berlin, and the Festival is in full swing! In every corner, little groups are clustered, sharing ideas, plotting, and putting faces to profiles. From graffiti walls to linked budgets, from destroying printers to building a social contract for open data – the only problem is that you can’t […]

Read more

New Local Groups in Cameroon, Guernsey, Kenya, Bermuda and New Zealand!

Once again we can proudly announce the establishment of a new round of Open Knowledge Local Groups, headed by community leaders around the world. This time we welcome Cameroon, Guernsey, Kenya, Bermuda and New Zealand to the family of Local Groups, which brings the global Open Knowledge community tally beyond the 50+ countries mark. In […]

Read more