Open Knowledge International is a global non-profit organisation focused on realising open data’s value to society by helping civil society groups access and use data to take action on social problems. Open Knowledge International does this in three ways:
Open Knowledge International is a worldwide network of people passionate about openness, using advocacy, technology and training to unlock information and enable people to work with it to create and share knowledge.
Open Knowledge International wants to see enlightened societies around the world, where everyone has access to key information and the ability to use it to understand and shape their lives; where powerful institutions are comprehensible and accountable; and where vital research information that can help us tackle challenges such as poverty and climate change is available to all.
They envision a world where:
This is the world we choose. They want to see open knowledge being a mainstream concept, and as natural and important to our everyday lives and organisations as green is today.
To reach these goals, they need to raise the profile of open knowledge and raise awareness of how important it is. They need to change cultures, policies and business models at large organisations to make opening up information acceptable and desirable. They need to build capacity in understanding information, sharing, finding and using data, across the population and the world. They need to create and encourage collaborations across government, business and civil society to use data to rebalance power and tackle major challenges. They need tools (technical, legal, and educational) to make working with data easier and more effective.