What Open Data Charter does

Open Data Charter (ODC) is an independent international non-profit initiative established in 2015 that develops and promotes a framework of 6 International Open Data Principles (Open by Default; Timely and Comprehensive; Accessible and Usable; Comparable and Interoperable; For Improved Governance and Citizen Engagement; For Inclusive Development and Innovation). Since inception, over 175 national and subnational governments have adopted these principles, with a notable 2024 mass adoption by 1,928 settlements in Ukraine's Lviv Region. ODC operates a multi-stakeholder governance model comprising an Advisory Board, ODC Stewards, an Implementation Working Group, and a network of institutional endorsers spanning civil society, multilaterals, and the private sector.

The organization's core 'product' is a policy framework supported by a resource library (reports, measurement guides, thematic publications) and thematic focus areas including Anti-corruption, Climate Action, Gender Equality, and Data Rights and AI. Technology delivery is content-centric (Medium blog, YouTube, a public events calendar, a downloadable bilingual Charter PDF) rather than software-centric; ODC explicitly has no public API or partner-facing platform. Strategic activities include coordination with peer initiatives such as the Open Government Partnership, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, the International Open Data Conference, the UNCAC Coalition, and a 2025 responsible AI report coordinated with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Commercially, ODC does not sell to adopters — endorsement and adoption are free — and the organization relies on grant funding from governments, foundations, and multilateral organizations. Its 'customers' in the conventional sense are adopting governments and institutional endorsers, reached through a community-led, direct-engagement go-to-market motion. The organization published a three-year 'Sustainable Data for a Changing World' strategy covering 2024–2026, and in 2025 launched a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Community of Practice in Latin America and the Caribbean, signaling expansion from open-data principles into broader digital public infrastructure coordination.

Name

Open Data Charter

Legal name

Open Data Charter

Website

https://opendatacharter.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Open Data Charter is an independent international non-profit that develops 6 open data principles adopted by 175+ national and subnational governments, funded by grants from governments, foundations, and multilateral organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Data Policy Framework

NAICS

Information (51)

akta.pro primary industry

Official Development Assistance (ODA) Program Management (BPADAOAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Open Educational Resources (OER) & Open Access Academic Publishing (MPAJABAG)

Keywords

• Open data principles
• Government data policy
• Open government advocacy
• Data governance frameworks
• Nonprofit policy initiative

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Funding and Grants: Open Data Charter operates as a non-profit international initiative, relying on funding from governments, foundations, and multilateral organizations that support open data and transparency initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Open Data Charter (ODC) is a non-profit international initiative that maintains and promotes 6 International Open Data Principles for adoption by national and subnational governments. The Charter provides a policy framework, a Measurement Guide for self-assessment, an Implementation Working Group (IWG) for peer learning, and thematic toolkits covering anti-corruption, climate action, gender equality, and data rights/AI, supported by an online resource library.

Product overview

Open Data Charter is a policy and advocacy organization rather than a software product company. Its primary offering is the International Open Data Charter (ODC) — a framework of 6 open data principles adopted by national and subnational governments worldwide. The organization provides supporting resources including a resource library, implementation guidance through the Implementation Working Group (IWG), and thematic focus areas in Anti-corruption, Climate Action, Gender Equality, and Data Rights and AI. The portfolio includes downloadable policy documents such as the Charter PDF, Measurement Guide, and various research reports covering data frameworks for responsible AI, climate action, and regional open data implementations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• International Open Data Charter (6 Principles) The flagship framework of the organization: 6 internationally recognized open data principles that governments formally adopt through a structured process (public leadership statement, ministry/department appointment, delivery mechanisms, and time-bound actions). Targeted at national and subnational government policy makers.
• Institutional Endorsement of the ODC Principles A formal endorsement offering by which NGOs, civil society organizations, multilateral institutions, and select private sector entities publicly align with and support the ODC Principles. Endorsement is facilitated through online forms and direct engagement.
• Implementation Working Group (IWG) A multi-stakeholder community of practice that develops implementation tools, peer-learning resources, and policy guidance for governments and organizations operationalizing the ODC Principles. Open to active participants via the IWG session sign-up form.
• Government Adoption of the ODC Principles A structured government adoption service that walks public sector bodies through a formal commitment process to the ODC Principles, including required steps and follow-up actions for implementing open data policy.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Thomson Reuters FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Coordinated the Data Frameworks for Responsible AI report with support from the Thomson Reuters Foundation's TrustLaw programme, exploring AI governance and data regulation in six jurisdictions: Chile, Mexico, Kenya, Mauritius, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
• UNCAC CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022ODC became a member of the UNCAC Coalition in 2022 and a non-ECOSOC member of the COSP conference (Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption).
• Global Alliance for CareminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022ODC became a member of the Global Alliance for Care in 2022 after its first implementation of the Care Economy Indicators, becoming the first data organization in this alliance.
• Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerODC complements GPSDD and the UN Independent Advisory Group on the Data Revolution by focusing specifically on articulation and adoption of common open data principles for inclusive and sustainable development.
• Open Government Partnership (OGP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClose institutional relationship where open data discussions originated in the OGP Open Data Working Group. ODC has been helping OGP members with drafting and implementing open data commitments, with open data part of most OGP Action Plans.
• International Open Data Conference (IODC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerODC supports implementation of the roadmap for open data articulated by IODC. The ODC principles were featured prominently in discussions during IODC 2015 in Ottawa, Canada.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• World Wide Web Foundation: Founded by Tim Berners-Lee, this foundation advocates for an open, equitable web including open data and AI governance; comparable to ODC on policy advocacy around data rights and openness.
• Sunlight Foundation: A US-focused nonprofit promoting government transparency and open data; comparable as a long-standing open-government-data advocate though more US-centric than ODC's global mandate.

Direct peers

• Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD): A multi-stakeholder network of governments, multilaterals, and organizations advancing data for sustainable development; complementary to ODC and serves a similar donor/funder and government audience on data governance.
• Open Government Partnership (OGP): A multilateral initiative of 75+ countries that promotes open government commitments including open data; ODC is closely partnered with OGP and operates in overlapping member/government segments, making it a near-direct peer.
• Open Knowledge Foundation: A global nonprofit advocating for open knowledge, open data, and open government; directly comparable to ODC as a peer advocacy organization promoting open-data standards and principles internationally.
• Open Data Institute (ODI): A UK-based nonprofit founded in 2012 that trains and advises governments on open data, publishes open-data research, and develops open-data best practices — closely comparable to ODC's mandate of driving adoption of open-data principles.
• GODAN (Global Open Data for Agriculture & Nutrition): An international initiative advocating for open data in agriculture and nutrition; comparable to ODC as a sector-and-principles open-data advocacy network targeting governments and multilaterals.

Regional players

• Transparency International: A global coalition against corruption that uses open-data methodologies; comparable as a long-standing international advocacy nonprofit operating in an overlapping thematic area (anti-corruption) with ODC.

Emerging players

• International Budget Partnership: Promotes transparent and open budget data for accountability; comparable to ODC's mission as an open-government-data advocate targeting public-finance transparency across multiple countries.
• Code for All / Code for America: A civic-tech network that uses open data to improve government services; comparable as a community-led open-data and open-government actor, though with a stronger technology-implementation angle than ODC.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/opendatacharter
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@opendatacharter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/opendatacharter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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