At Datopian, our mission is to bridge the gap between people and data by providing accessible, innovative open-source solutions and expertise. We are dedicated to empowering organizations and individuals to harness the full potential of information and drive impactful change in the world.
For over a decade we've been creating tools and applications for data. We've helped create the open data movement from the ground up.
Datopian's story begins in 2004, when president at Datopian Dr. Rufus Pollock founded the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF), now an internationally-renowned non-profit that works towards a fair, free and open future.
While at OKF, Rufus started the open-source project CKAN, a tool for building data solutions that is now used by the likes of https://data.gov and the Fortune 500. Over the course of a decade, CKAN grew rapidly to become the most attractive open-source option for organizations of all sizes.
As more commercial opportunities for CKAN arose, in 2014 Rufus founded a sister-organization, Datopian (then Viderum), to provide a vehicle for these CKAN projects. Datopian continues to work closely with OKF to promote the adoption of CKAN across the globe. You can read more about our collaboration here.
“We're passionate about data. Passionate about its power to help us understand and shape our societies. And we want to democratise that power by giving more people, more access to high quality data and tooling.”
Dr. Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, researcher and technologist working to create an open information age. Founder and President of Open Knowledge, a leading international non-profit that empowers people and organizations with access to information and the tools and skills to make sense of it. A recognized global expert on open data and open knowledge, passionate and committed to democratizing data. He has worked with multiple governments, IGOs such as the World Bank and the UN, businesses and CSOs. He led teams which have built and launched data portals for the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Southern Australia, Singapore and many others.
He has been a prominent figure in the open data movement, playing a key role in the development of CKAN, a widely-used open-source data management platform, DataHub.io, Frictionless Data and other open-source software. Pollock's work and influence have significantly impacted the way governments, organizations, and individuals access and use data worldwide.
In addition to his academic work, whilst at Open Knowledge International he initiated a wide variety of projects, many of which continue to be active today. For example, in 2005 he created The Open Definition which provided the first formal definition of open content and open data, and which has remained the standard reference definition. He also helped to lead or co-found several other organizations including Open Rights Group (2005, co-founder and board member), Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (2005-6, UK director), Creative Commons UK. His work has moved to focus more on broader issues of social transformation and in 2016 he co-founded a new non-profit "Life Itself", committed to practical action for a radically wiser, weller world.
Throughout his career, Rufus Pollock has been steadfast in his mission to promote a fair, free, and open future for information and data. He is the author of The Open Revolution: Rewriting the Rules of the Information Age (2018).
Forget everything you know about the digital age. It's not about privacy, surveillance, AI or blockchain—it's about ownership. Because, in a digital age, who owns information owns the future.
Datopian is driven by the conviction that the digital economy should empower everyone. Whether you're a citizen searching online for a bus timetable, a human rights campaigner looking into government military intervention, or a CEO trying to work out how to increase profits, data is your primary ally.
Data holds the power not only to better understand our organizations and societies, but to actively influence and shape them. This is why data must continue to be democratized, taken out of the privileged remit of data scientists and made the everyday currency of all kinds of staff and citizens.
Datopian's approach to working with data, particularly when designing solutions with clients, is informed by our commitment to democratizing the digital economy. Through equipping organizations with high-quality data and tooling, Datopian seeks to empower others to drive the world forward with data.
Datopian values judgement over rules, meaning that we put effort into explaining why we do things, rather than just stating how we do them. After all, every client is different, and so it follows that no one of our approaches should be the same.
Much like a master carpenter, we are driven by the belief that quality can only be achieved through a combination of rigour, hard graft and skill. We put time into refining our processes and strive for a job well done, a product well made.
Above all, we value simplicity. Systems for working with data should provide exactly what you need, with nothing missing and nothing in excess. Datopian is committed to removing the boundaries that prevent the free flow of data between people and organizations; innovation and transparency depend on it. You can learn more about our culture and principles in our Playbook > Culture.
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