4 ms·

Ask HN: Anyone making money from open data?

Poojasharma173 13y ago
http://www.shopnineteen.com http://www.shopnineteen.com
chippy 13y ago
See the OpenStreetMap ecosystem. Admittedly it's not quite the same vein as most Open Data, as the majority of Open Data implies it coming from closed sources. I'd also include other geospatial companies who provide visualisation and analyses tools which are using other things apart from OSM.
chippy 13y ago
In our town we have a new Open Data hub website which I getting government support. So that's one angle. On the other side of town we have an Open Data Institute - and these (again centrally funded) run a number of corporate level training days around open data. The idea is to make a little ecosystem around it.
cotsog 13y ago
Not mine, but I stumbled on this site recently that packages open data in different DB/file formats: SQL, Excel, Access, CSV. http://www.easydbs.com/ http://www.easydbs.com/ Edit: typo.
- ericthegoodking 13y ago
  interesting!!
  - wingi 13y ago
    This is a easy passive income project generating $30/month. http://bit.ly/QjA7eg http://bit.ly/QjA7eg
ig1 13y ago
Factual and MapBox are two companies making money from open data.
bertil 13y ago
I have heard of a couple of companies working on maps: local crime rates, parking tickets and school ratings allow them to improve property estimation. OpenStreetMap is a big source for them correcting official occupation maps. They sell the resulting maps to real-estate agencies and distribution companies. Funny detail: their maps are more accurate than official ones on many aspects; when I asked at a conference if they’d consider giving back to the community and authorities, they’d say it wasn’t worth it, they wouldn’t take it. When pressed (fairly certain OSM would welcome and had detailed APIs for it), they confessed not trying, because it wasn't in their commercial interest. The impact of their work appears to heighten urban issues: segregation and white flight, gentrification and pricing out incumbents… But then again: that’s the obvious consequence for more information. I doubt the solution to those issue is by regulating those services. Local volunteers for OSM are aware of the free riders and would consider negotiating giving back, but they don’t thing it's worth their non-existant legal ressources. Government officials appear intellectually unaware that this could happen.
karanbhangui 13y ago
http://panjiva.com/ http://panjiva.com/ (port authority data), http://www.buildzoom.com/ http://www.buildzoom.com/ (contractor licensing boards), and http://enigma.io/ http://enigma.io/ (aggregating and cleaning up many sources) come to mind.
- ericthegoodking 13y ago
  Honestly it isn't quite obvious the way these firms are using the open data.Do you mind expounding how how they are using the open data?
  - karanbhangui 13y ago
    For Panjiva: http://strata.oreilly.com/2012/12/panjiva-government-data-platform.html http://strata.oreilly.com/2012/12/panjiva-government-data-pl...

http://www.shopnineteen.com http://www.shopnineteen.com

See the OpenStreetMap ecosystem. Admittedly it's not quite the same vein as most Open Data, as the majority of Open Data implies it coming from closed sources. I'd also include other geospatial companies who provide visualisation and analyses tools which are using other things apart from OSM.

chippy 13y ago

In our town we have a new Open Data hub website which I getting government support. So that's one angle. On the other side of town we have an Open Data Institute - and these (again centrally funded) run a number of corporate level training days around open data. The idea is to make a little ecosystem around it.

cotsog 13y ago

Not mine, but I stumbled on this site recently that packages open data in different DB/file formats: SQL, Excel, Access, CSV. http://www.easydbs.com/ http://www.easydbs.com/ Edit: typo.

ericthegoodking 13y ago
interesting!!
- wingi 13y ago
  This is a easy passive income project generating $30/month. http://bit.ly/QjA7eg http://bit.ly/QjA7eg

ig1 13y ago

Factual and MapBox are two companies making money from open data.

bertil 13y ago

I have heard of a couple of companies working on maps: local crime rates, parking tickets and school ratings allow them to improve property estimation. OpenStreetMap is a big source for them correcting official occupation maps. They sell the resulting maps to real-estate agencies and distribution companies. Funny detail: their maps are more accurate than official ones on many aspects; when I asked at a conference if they’d consider giving back to the community and authorities, they’d say it wasn’t worth it, they wouldn’t take it. When pressed (fairly certain OSM would welcome and had detailed APIs for it), they confessed not trying, because it wasn't in their commercial interest. The impact of their work appears to heighten urban issues: segregation and white flight, gentrification and pricing out incumbents… But then again: that’s the obvious consequence for more information. I doubt the solution to those issue is by regulating those services. Local volunteers for OSM are aware of the free riders and would consider negotiating giving back, but they don’t thing it's worth their non-existant legal ressources. Government officials appear intellectually unaware that this could happen.

karanbhangui 13y ago

http://panjiva.com/ http://panjiva.com/ (port authority data), http://www.buildzoom.com/ http://www.buildzoom.com/ (contractor licensing boards), and http://enigma.io/ http://enigma.io/ (aggregating and cleaning up many sources) come to mind.

ericthegoodking 13y ago
Honestly it isn't quite obvious the way these firms are using the open data.Do you mind expounding how how they are using the open data?
- karanbhangui 13y ago
  For Panjiva: http://strata.oreilly.com/2012/12/panjiva-government-data-platform.html http://strata.oreilly.com/2012/12/panjiva-government-data-pl...