There was a time when you couldn’t read about data without coming across the phrase ‘data is the new oil. ' It was meant to indicate the wealth that flowed from control of data. But oil is finite and gets used up. Data, particularly Open Data, is more like a renewable energy source. It can be reused and repurposed as long as people can find it.
If you’ve ever used an air pollution app to track the quality of air in your town, or followed the delivery route of a Friday night pizza, you’ve probably used open data. For businesses, researchers, and creators, the real value lies in using open data for insights and to build something new.
Data sharing has evolved
For decades, high-value data like maps, weather records, and census results, were locked behind paywalls or never left excel sheets in government offices. The Open Data movement gained momentum in the late 2000s, driven by the belief that taxpayers funded government projects, and so the data generated should be available to everyone.
The goal wasn't just transparency, though and key data sets like weather and transport are worth billions to the economies of nations that share open data. What started as a drive towards accountability quickly turned into the realisation that research to improve services could be outsourced to the public. From student startups to Amazon, businesses across the planet as using open data for the value it provides.
Tim Berners-Lee’s 5-Star Data Standards
Not all data is created equal. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, and one of the earliest proponents of the open data movement, developed a 5-star rating system to help people understand how 'usable' a dataset really is.
★ Level 1: Available on the web in any format (e.g., a PDF of a table). It's theoretically open, in that people can see it, but a pain to use because you have to copy-paste.
★★ Level 2: Machine-readable structured data (e.g., an Excel file instead of a PDF).
★★★ Level 3: Non-proprietary formats (e.g., a CSV instead of Excel). This is the sweet spot for most users because you don't need expensive software to open it.
★★★★ Level 4: Uses W3C standards (URIs) to identify things, so others can link to your data.
★★★★★ Level 5: Linked Data. Your data links to other people’s data to provide context (e.g., linking your local park's data to the national weather service).
If you’re looking for data to power an app or analysis, aim for 3-star data or higher. It saves you hours of 'data cleaning' and ensures your tools won't break when a software company updates their file format.
Know your Open Data Licenses
Open data comes with rules. To benefit from open data without landing in legal trouble, you need to understand the license. Most open data uses Creative Commons (CC) licenses. Developed in 2001, these licenses tell you what you can and can’t do with the data that you have found.
| License | What it means for you |
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CC0 (Public Domain)
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Total freedom. Use it, change it, sell it—no strings attached. |
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CC BY (Attribution)
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Use it for anything, but you must give credit to the original creator. |
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CC BY-SA (Share Alike)
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If you build something new using this data, you must release your new version under the same license. |
Data sets are protected by copyright and so you always need to check for the 'NC' (Non-Commercial) tag if you plan to build an app on top of it. You must always credit the source, and if a dataset is labeled CC BY-NC, you cannot use it in a product that you charge money for.
How to Actually Benefit from Open Data
So, how do you turn these stars and licenses into value?
Market Intelligence
Use census and demographic open data to decide where to open your next physical office or who to target with your ads.
Product Enrichment
If you have a property sales or services site, pull in open data about local school ratings or air quality to make your listings more valuable than the competition.
Efficiency & Cost Savings
Buying proprietary map data, weather feeds or traffic data is pointless when the government provides high-quality versions for free.
Social Proof & Trust
Publishing your own 'open' impact reports (using 3-star CSVs) builds massive trust with customers who are tired of vague marketing claims.
Open data is more than a technical standard. It provides opportunities for real economic growth and data that is not hidden behind a paywall. By looking for 3-star + data and respecting Creative Commons licenses, you can access a multi-billion dollar information infrastructure from a student laptop.
In 2026, our IoA Student Members will be working with Open Data to evidence their ability to add value to their future employers by leveraging these free resources.
