Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE)

Our Story CODE was founded in January 2015 as the Center for Open Data Enterprise, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. The organization’s mission is to maximize the value of open government data for the public good. This includes applications of fully open data - free, publicly available data that anyone can access and use, without restrictions - as well as strategies for sharing or exchanging data that requires privacy or security considerations. ‍ CODE’s founding team launched the organization with a commitment to open data and its value. CODE’s founder and president, Joel Gurin, wrote the book Open Data Now that helped define this new field, and led the team at the GovLab that developed the Open Data 500, the first comprehensive study showing how businesses use open data from government. The team began convening Open Data Roundtables at the GovLab to encourage demand-driven open data - helping government agencies provide data in a way that meets the needs of its users. Building on this work, the original Open Data 500 team launched CODE as a new organization in 2015. ‍ Today, CODE’s work reflects the evolving understanding of how open data’s value must be balanced against the need for data privacy and security. CODE works with stakeholders in government, academia, the nonprofit sector, and the private sector to enable different approaches to data publication, sharing, and exchange. Since its founding, CODE has worked with the White House and numerous U.S. federal agencies to help them leverage data more effectively. The organization’s international work includes facilitating the use of data for reporting on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, mapping applications of open data around the world, and promoting open data for business purposes. Back to Top Our Team Joel Gurin PRESIDENT Katarina Rebello DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS Paul Kuhne PROJECT MANAGER ABOUT JOEL GURIN Joel Gurin is the President and Founder of CODE and an internationally recognized expert on open data. His book Open Data Now (McGraw-Hill), written for a general audience, is considered a benchmark publication that helped define this emerging field. Before launching CODE in January 2015 he conceptualized and led the development team for the GovLab’s Open Data 500 project, the first thorough study of the use of open government data by the private sector. Joel’s background includes government, journalism, nonprofit leadership, and consumer issues. He served as Chair of the White House Task Force on Smart Disclosure, which studied how open government data can improve consumer markets, and as Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. For more than a decade he was Editorial Director and then Executive Vice President of Consumer Reports, where he directed the launch and development of ConsumerReports.org, the world’s largest paid-subscription information-based website. He is a graduate of Harvard University with an A.B. in Biochemical Sciences, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. You can follow him on Twitter at @joelgurin. Jacob Lewis RESEARCH FELLOW Caleb Rudow RESEARCH FELLOW Brock Fanning DATA SCIENTIST Hamadoun Cisse FINANCE MANAGER Temilola Afolabi RESEARCH INTERN Andy Lo WEB DEVELOPER Back to Top Our Partners Since our founding in 2015, CODE has been fortunate to collaborate with public, private, and nonprofit organizations who have contributed to our programs with financial support and in other significant ways. Back to Top Our Advisors CODE draws on a network of advisors and board members for insight, and guidance. Our advisors bring expertise from many perspectives, including the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Steve Adler FORMER CHIEF INFORMATION STRATEGIST, IBM Audrey Ariss YOUNG PROFESSIONAL, WORLD BANK GROUP Shaida Badiee MANAGING DIRECTOR, OPEN DATA WATCH William F. “Bill” Baker PRESIDENT EMERITUS, WNET Amparo Ballivian FORMER LEAD ECONOMIST, WORLD BANK GROUP Kathy Conrad DIRECTOR, DIGITAL GOVERNMENT, ACCENTURE FEDERAL SERVICES Marc DaCosta FOUNDER, ENIGMA.IO Elizabeth Grossman DIRECTOR OF CIVIC PROJECTS, TECHNOLOGY & CIVIC ENGAGEMENT GROUP, MICROSOFT Hudson Hollister FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL, HDATA Laura Manley DIRECTOR, TECHNOLOGY & PUBLIC PURPOSE PROJECT BELFER CENTER, HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL Miriam Nisbet FORMER DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICES Theresa Pardo DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY IN GOVERNMENT Bryce Pippert SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL CIVILIAN BUSINESS, MANTECH ‍ Nick Sinai FORMER U.S. DEPUTY CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER WALTER SHORENSTEIN FELLOW, HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL Jed Sundwall OPEN DATA TECHNICAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, AMAZON WEB SERVICES