Open Data China is the very first and only civic organization based in China dedicated to promoting and building up an open digital society. Founded in 2014, Open Data China is part of Open Knowledge Foundation’s global network and originally focused on advancing the Open Data agenda in China. It initiated and operated several key projects including China Open Data Lens, Shanghai Open Data Watch, and Shanghai Open Data Apps.
The organization has implemented initiatives such as China Open Data Lens, a city-level index based upon ODB methodology (more details about it can be accessed from this paper) and SODA ,originally called Shanghai Open Data Apps, which is a competition-based innovation model we use to unlock local government data and support the developments of solutions to local issues. The program primarily was run in Shanghai and was duplicated in Chongqing, Shenyang and other cities. Overall, Open Data China, has directly unlocked more than 60 datasets from 30 government agencies and private companies, generated nearly 1000 prototypes and applications, cultivated several startups with over 1000 million dollars investments.