Since Open Government Data Strategy was set forth in July 2012, Japan has developed data catalogs, created necessary rules and manuals, and implemented G8 Open Data Charter Action Plan . In addition, owing to the active role local governments and NPOs play, more and more people come to understand why open data is worthy and important. Now it is the time to step forward to make better use of it.
Open Data Promotion Consortium, set up in July 2012 to work on open data issues, therefore have decided to launch Vitalization Local Economy Organization by Open data & Big data（VLED）to extend its activities and to cope with the decline of local economies.
Regional revitalization is one of the most important political issues to address in Japan. The key for regional revitalization is to ensure economic stability in regions by boosting business activities and job markets, not only in the shrinking domestic market but also in growing global markets. In this situation the important thing is to allow each region to create sustainable business models by improving the domestic environment where various data including open data is easy to use, making information distribution less costly, and promoting more effective use of open data.
These days, Japan come under the spotlights in the world as Japanese food and Mt. Fuji won world heritage status. Japan will continue attracting more attention from abroad due to a series of world events; Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020, Rugby World Cup in 2019, and 2021 World Master Games in Kansai region.
These are therefore good opportunities where open data contributes to promoting Japanese products and introducing various Japanese cultures.
Open Data Symposium 2014 explores how to make the most of open data to generate business and to develop new services in the light of current trend abroad.
We hope industry, academia, and government share their various perspectives and deepen their collaboration.