Creating Impact with Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition

The Waterwatch Cooperative will be part of the International Workshop hosted by the Government of the Netherlands 19/20 January 2015.

The terms Open Data and Big Data refer to the data revolution: rapid waves of digitization and digital connectedness causing a transformation from information scarcity to data abundance. Governmental organisations, private companies, NGOs and citizens are increasingly aware that the global trend towards Open Data offers great opportunities for informed and transparent decision making and for developing a data driven economy. These societal stakeholders also recognize that targeted action is needed to harness the power of open data for the benefit of society at large and to cope with possible negative impacts. International collaboration, development of good practices and sharing lessons learned from impact cases can help to reach the desired impacts faster and with broader community involvement. These developments are highly relevant for the agricultural sector, food supply chains and nutrition.

The GODAN initiative on Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (www.godan.info) was launched in October 2013 to support global efforts for making relevant data available, accessible, and usable for unrestricted use worldwide. GODAN focuses on building high-level institutional support for open data policies from public and private partners. The International Workshop “Creating Impact with Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition” (Wageningen, 19/20 January 2015) explores the different types of impact of open data and the pathways towards these impacts. The workshop is hosted by the Government of the Netherlands and organised by the Open Data Institute in the UK in collaboration with Alterra, a part of Wageningen University and Research Centre.

The general objective and scope of the workshop is:

1. To develop a shared understanding how open data in the field of agriculture, food supply and nutrition can lead to societal impact;
2. To define and specify potential impacts in either economic terms, improved governance, or improved understanding of strategic decision making.
3. To explore routes to impact, business models behind open data, and good practices. This explorative approach will focus on agriculture, food supply and nutrition, but also seeks to build on lessons learned from other sectors.
4. To outline a strategic agenda that can be used as a starting point for the GODAN Secretariat (to be established in spring 2015).

For more information, please check  http://www.godan.info/conference.html