Open Data is anonymised public data that can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose.  The amount of global interest and the availability of data are increasing exponentially. The Global Open Data Index 2014 ranked the UK as leading the way in releasing Open Datasets, but this year Taiwan is chasing us down.
In true British Style, as individual UK government departments are being encouraged to release data as soon as they can, the Open Data Movement keeps growing in momentum.  Today, over 140,000 datasets are available from over 908 publishers covering areas such as health, crime, property and the census. Currently no central framework or governance exists on the scheduling and formatting of Open Data which you might assume has caused businesses to shy away from the challenges of navigating, connecting, and making sense of Open Data. It’s true many have. However, a new wave of businesses are successfully demonstrating the commercial benefits and value that can be delivered from this huge wealth of untapped data, and here are the Top 10 reasons businesses have opted to use Open Data to aggregate and augment your Big Data projects.
Let’s start with an obvious one. Open Data covers all regions in the UK. Quantity of data does vary from one region to the next, for example Northern Ireland has a central planning application database but in the UK this is released by some local authorities but not all.
You’ll be surprised at the level of detailed information available as was Jamie Oliver when in January 2014 , The Times reported the 24-hour closing of his butchers, Barbecoa, located in the City of London after public health officers scored it one out of five.
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