The advent of web technologies and the promotion of data sharing practices have fostered open data initiatives. The main motivation of governments in sharing data with the public is to stimulate economic growth by enabling the creation of new products. One of the areas that could benefit from open data initiatives is that of location-based services (LBS). If access to relevant data sources is granted, next-generation LBS could do much more than ‘just’ proposing an itinerary from A to B, or finding the nearest hotel. However, challenges must be addressed before open data initiatives can result in expected benefits. Some of the related issues are discussed in a short contribution to GIM International.
http://www.gim-international.com/issues/articles/id2032-Open_Data_Opportunities.html
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