According to Wikipédia, open data is best reflected by the statement : “a piece of data is open if anyone is free to use, reuse, and redistribute it subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and/or share-alike.”
The open data movement really took off in the late 2000s to nowadays cover a wide range of activities: public service, education, heath and culture. The Open Data movement is defended as a civil right, which can be invoked occasionally before the administration.
In recent years, the movement of open data seized the tourism sector in order to better respond to new demands. Indeed, the consumption patterns of tourism have changed somewhat recently. The informed and connected tourist will be concerned about finding quickly and in an easy way some tourist data in his own language.
Aware of this, some traditional stakeholders had to react : reliable Open data platform, smart smartphone appliances, Technical and design competition. This opening is carried out through a collaboration and communication at different levels. Indeed, the feedback from some players shows that only a collaborative approach between private, public and technical professional, product efficient results. This dynamism is reinforced by recent macroeconomic studies on open data, demonstrating a increasingly return on direct and indirect investment.
Even if Open data is a good opportunity for some players, caution is required ! The CNIL and the CADA ensure there are no misbehaviours. The difference in treatment between public and private data can actually cause many legal disputes.
The financial interest of Open data also explains the recent arrivals of large players in this area. The opening of all these data interests actors such as Tripadvisor, Booking, Google and Apple. Threats or opportunities? Local tourism stakeholders have differing opinions.
The Open Data Tourism enthusiasm is truly a global phenomenon. Each country is trying with more or less success.
If the open data movement has so much success nowadays, it’s because it’s part of a wider movement. Big Data, Cloud, Linked Data, data or “the gold of the 21st century” irrigates truly the digital economy. Economic interest explains the resurgence of the Data Breach: case Orange, case Target…