Open data: "There's an app for that."

Abstract

This commentary examines how the open data movement is revolutionizing the diverse practices of journalism, government communication and public relations. The author defines open data as the future of communicating knowledge, and explains how it is challenging communication professionals in ways that previous incarnations of the World Wide Web have not before. The author describes the evolution of web services tracing the differences between Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. The author proposes transparency as the fundamental concept underlying success for professional communicators in an open data world. ©Journal of Professional Communication, all rights reserved.