The quotes below from Sir Tim Berners-Lee relate to the launch of the new Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, and the International Open Data Charter, both of which will be discussed at events around the UN General Assembly in September 2015. They are approved for re-use or publication. Queries may be sent to press@webfoundation.org.

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Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, and Founding Director of the Web Foundation said:

“To achieve the goals of sustainable development, critical data must be open and available for reuse by anyone, anywhere, anytime. This is the vision – but Web Foundation research shows us a very different reality – in 2014 just 7% of countries released open data on performance of health services, with only 12% providing corresponding figures on education.

“The Global Partnership for Development Data and the development of an International Open Data Charter have the potential to accelerate progress by placing actionable data in the hands of people. We will continue to champion ambitious open data policies, innovation and research in our work, and are proud to join forces with others in this Global Partnership.”
ENDS