The Exciting $3 Trillion Promise of Open Data

The world is awash in data that’s in the public domain but mostly goes to waste. Making better use of open data from the government and private sources could create $3 trillion of value worldwide in just seven industry sectors, according to a study released today by McKinsey & Co., the consulting firm.

...Open data isn’t just from government agencies. It includes private data that’s placed in the public domain, such as Google Trends.

...“Blended with proprietary data sets,” McKinsey writes, open data “can propel innovation and help organizations replace traditional and intuitive decision-making approaches with data-driven ones.”

...The seven industries that McKinsey examined were education, transportation, consumer products, electricity, oil and gas, health care, and consumer finance.