The smart grid, which used Open Data to help consumers control their use of electricity, dramatically increased energy efficiency nationwide.

This kind of data fuels the participatory budgeting movement, where cities around the world are inviting their residents to look at the city budget and help decide how to spend it. It’s

chosen a simple and expansive definition of Open Data: it’s accessible public data that people, companies, and organizations can use to launch new ventures, analyze patterns and trends, make data-driven decisions, and solve complex problems. Others

Once the data was public, companies worked quickly to improve their sustainability practices.

reputation, good and bad, than most focus groups can. Monitoring the social web and the Open Data derived from it can be a primary source of marketing intelligence.

Because all important datasets are now interoperable, many new companies are based on creative data mashups.

The United Kingdom now has choice engines with large scale but low customer satisfaction; the United States has had some general choice engines, like BillShrink,

Some of the most sought-after business consultants are the experts in social customer service who teach companies how to keep their customers happy and their online reputations positive.

affect the wider world—a company’s environmental record, its labor history, its political contributions, its adherence to regulations—are rapidly becoming an open book. In these areas, expect more government mandates to release data and more experts who are adept at interpreting it.