Open data is needed to enable sustainable development

The author contends that while the world possesses the necessary data to manage the risks of climatic extremes and natural disasters, this information is currently trapped in institutional silos. To sustain productivity and growth, the author calls for the creation of 'informational global public goods' through open innovation and public-private partnerships, requiring new incentive structures to reward the delivery of such data at scale.

• Climatic extremes and chaotic urbanization are increasing the frequency and impact of natural disasters, which in turn disrupt the supply and demand of critical resource systems including energy, food, and water.
• The primary barrier to managing environmental risks is not a lack of data, but the fact that existing data is stored in 'closed' silos across public, private, and academic institutions and lacks the interdisciplinary interoperability required for informed action.
• Sustainable growth requires treating integrated information as 'informational global public goods,' which necessitates the development of new incentive structures to encourage corporations and public institutions to provide this data.

APA

Castilla-Rubio, J. C. (2012). Open data is needed to enable sustainable development. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/open-data-is-needed-to-enable-sustainable-development/

Chicago

Castilla-Rubio, Juan Carlos. Open data is needed to enable sustainable development. World Economic Forum, 2012. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/open-data-is-needed-to-enable-sustainable-development/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Castilla-Rubio |first1=Juan Carlos |title=Open data is needed to enable sustainable development |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=14 June 2012 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/open-data-is-needed-to-enable-sustainable-development/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{castillarubio2012open, author = {Castilla-Rubio, Juan Carlos}, title = {{Open data is needed to enable sustainable development}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2012}, month = jun, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/open-data-is-needed-to-enable-sustainable-development/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }