“The Open Data 500 is the first comprehensive study of U.S. companies using open government data to develop new products and services. The study will identify, describe, and analyze companies that use open government data in their businesses. The Open Data 500 is designed to provide a basis for assessing the value of government data; help encourage the development of new open data companies; and foster a dialogue between government and business on how government data can be made more useful. The Open Data 500 study is being conducted by the GovLab at New York University with funding from the Knight Foundation. The GovLab works to improve people’s lives by changing how we govern. Toward that end the GovLab brings together thinkers and doers who design, implement, and study technology-enabled solutions that advance a collaborative, networked approach to reinvent institutions of governance. It is an action-research center leading an interdisciplinary and global research network. The GovLab operates on the hypothesis that 21st century citizen engagement can make governance more effective and legitimate. As part of its mission, the GovLab studies how institutions can publish the data they collect as open data so that citizens can analyze and use this information to detect and solve problems. In addition to the Open Data 500, several other efforts are under way to describe and understand how civil society and the private sector can use government open data. The GovLab is coordinating work on the Open Data 500 with the World Wide Web Foundation, the Open Data Institute, the McKinsey Global Institute, and others doing important work in this field.”