Open Data

The Open Data Institute (ODI) defines open data as information that is licensed for anyone to use for any purpose at no cost. Open data can be accessed, used and shared by anyone and is not subject to restrictions, licence, copyright, patents and charges for access or reuse. The institute believes industries will benefit from the publication of data from several organisations within a sector relating to similar fields and published in an open standard format ^[1]

In 2013, the UK government signed the G8 Open Data Charter, requiring governments to follow five strategic principles for open data. These principles include the open publication of government data by default, including principles to increase data quality, quantity, and reuse of data being released. ^[2]

In 2014, the Building Research Establishment (BRE) commissioned a study to examine Open and Big Data in Construction to understand their barriers and benefits in the AEC industry.^[3] The report’s main objective was to raise awareness of data utilisation and increase data literacy levels along the supply chain. A significant barrier identified concerned AEC individuals becoming overwhelmed by the technical language used in these areas with the report suggesting simplification of terminology. Furthermore, the report suggested that open data from different sectors could significantly improve the planning and development of infrastructure. Geospatial data could be used to locate areas for potential development such as schools by understanding population location and age. The study explained how organisations could utilise, analysis and demonstrate open data by mining, mapping, and mashing^[1]

[1] Dan Coleman, 2020-21 PDE4302 Operational BIM Management

[2] UK Government (2013) Open-data-charter, GOV.UK. Open Data Charter sets,the data that is released.

[3] BRE (2014) Utilising data – Open & Big Data in construction.